2024 NBA Draft Odds: Is Zach Edey Poised to Go in Lottery?

Zach Edey’s made quite a name for himself in 2024, winning the National College POY award for the second straight season, followed by a dominant romp through March Madness en route to a championship game loss.

But while he crushed the college game, Zach Edey Draft odds remained skeptical of the 7’4” giant’s pro potential — at least until recently.

With the Draft just hours away, Edey’s stock has been on the move amid reports of the Portland Trail Blazers coveting him heavily. 

Let’s check out the latest NBA Draft betting odds and make sense of where Edey will be taken. You can also take a deeper dive into the Lakers' plans with our Bronny James draft odds.

Zach Edey NBA Draft odds

Zach Edey NBA Draft news

Until the past couple of weeks, Zach Edey had been viewed as a late first-round NBA Draft prospect; his obvious size and effective offensive game offset by doubts about his mobility and versatility in an increasingly space-and-pace NBA game.

In a shallow class, it was always a given that some team would take a flier on Edey — skilled 7’4” dudes don’t exactly grow on trees — but how early that happens is now seriously in flux. 

Monday saw lots of pro-Edey propaganda being sprayed around the interwebs, with an ESPN mock slotting Edey at No. 15 alongside a quote from a draft workout opponent comparing the matchup to “trying to guard Shaquille O'Neal” (a, frankly, insane take for a number of reasons, but I digress). 

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor took things a step further, reporting that the Portland Trail Blazers — owners of two lottery picks — are very interested in Edey, possibly as early as No. 7 overall. 

Zach Edey is +2900 at Betano to be the 7th overall pick if you think the Trail Blazers are actually targeting him at 7. https://t.co/D8N77XGTcH

— Jon Metler (@JonMetler) June 24, 2024

Edey’s Over/Under draft position has thus been on the move, at 15.5 at both DraftKings and FanDuel as of late Tuesday morning.

Zach Edey NBA Draft position best bet

The pre-draft process is shaped by smoke and mirrors almost as much as scouting and workouts — never has that been more a factor than in today’s era of social media leaks and insider “scoops”. 

The key is to be critical of what has teeth, and what sounds rational. Take, for example, last year’s ridiculous flip-flopping of Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson at No. 2. Despite ostensibly reputable Shams reports, did it really make sense for the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball already in hand, to be taking another point guard with the second pick in a deep draft? Of course not — and when decision time came, they didn’t.

I’m taking a similar approach to Edey at No. 7. Not only do the Blazers have an athletic team that, on paper, is a poor fit around the Purdue product, taking him in the mid-lottery seems almost too hyperbolic to be credible. Shallow draft or not, reaching that far for a low-upside guy who’d been mostly mocked the in the early 20s to late teens is the type of shit that can get a GM canned promptly. 

The real question is whether Edey’s suddenly rising stock inflates his market enough to create value on the Over/Under, knowing the Blazers also hold the 14th overall pick. 

Portland’s front office hasn’t exactly been rational in some of its recent decisions, and with Deandre Ayton seemingly a placeholder, and Robert Williams III (unfortunately) increasingly unable to actually play basketball, center could be considered a long-term need for this team. 

Edey’s fit in the NBA will bring questions, but in a draft where there are pretty much no sure-thing picks, it’s a lot more likely we see GMs color outside the lines. If the Blazers take a safer pick at No. 7, Edey at 14 seems less likely to get them crucified by their faNBAse.

Meanwhile, the teams preceding Portland at 14 — the Sacramento Kings (desperately need rim protection), Chicago Bulls (both rotation centers are well past their primes), Oklahoma City Thunder (have 10,000 draft picks and, on paper, are one of the better fits for Edey in the NBA) — are also liabilities to take him.

Pick: Zach Edey draft position Under 14.5 (-130 at DraftKings)

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2024 NBA Draft order (first round)