Tuomas Iisalo Explains Grizzlies’ Development Plan for Zach Edey

Zach Edey had 8 points and 9 rebounds in his hometown Monday night. The Memphis Grizzlies were plus-11 in his 22:45 on the floor and beat the Toronto Raptors 118-102 at Scotiabank Arena.

Edey was born in Toronto. He went 2-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line, and 7 of his rebounds came on the defensive end.

Quinten Post exited for good less than two minutes into his night, with 4:03 to go in the opening quarter. Isaiah Stewart sat out again because of a bruised right knee, his second missed game in a row. Edey was the only center Memphis used after Post’s exit.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said that left Memphis playing lineups that had never been on the floor together.

“Zach always does great,” Iisalo said. “It doesn’t always show up on the box score, but his impact is felt every night. Whether it’s in the possession game, rebounding ball, or defensively protecting the rim, or just engaging the other guys.”

“We talk a lot about the offensive performances of our guards, but if you look at the tape, it’s also because the opponent is very paranoid about Zach getting open looks,” Iisalo continued. “So his defender, instead of protect the rim, tends to gravitate back towards Zach, which opens up then lanes for our guys, and that is something that you’ll only see in the plus-minus column for him.”

Jakob Poeltl started at center for Toronto and scored 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting, with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. Eight of those points came in the fourth quarter. The Raptors finished with a 50-42 edge in points in the paint.

With 9:29 left in the third quarter, Edey blocked an RJ Barrett layup attempt. Memphis led 65-55 at the time and scored the next 6 points.

He played 9:07 in the fourth quarter. With 9:05 left, Iisalo’s challenge flipped a whistle in Edey’s favor, and Edey made both free throws. His hook off a pass from Cameron Boozer with 3:49 to go put the Grizzlies up 113-97.

His 3 turnovers were a three-second violation in the opening minute of the second half, an offensive foul with 2:17 left, and a lost ball out of bounds with 48.1 seconds remaining.

Edey was called for a foul three times. All of them came in the fourth quarter.

“We talked about this pregame that he’s a unique player type,” Iisalo detailed, “and one of his challenges and one of the things that is our common project is to get him to utilize those strengths, but also at the same time to develop this general library of basketball knowledge, so he can stick in the game when in the playoffs or in games where teams put smaller lineups or shooting lineups there, and that’s gonna take some time. But he’s always wanting to learn and always wants to do what’s best for the team.”

Across eight games before Monday, Edey averaged 8.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks while playing 20.5 minutes a night. He shot 53.3% from the field.

He missed the Oct. 25 game at Sacramento for left ankle injury management. His season highs are 14 points, in Friday’s 128-97 loss to Oklahoma City when he went 8-of-8 at the line, and 13 rebounds against Indiana on Nov. 4.

In that Thunder game, Edey went to the bench with 7:32 left in the first quarter. Boozer was the biggest Grizzly on the floor until a timeout at 4:34, and Memphis went from up 12-8 to down 21-16 in that span.

Memphis drafted Edey ninth overall in 2024 out of Purdue, where he was a two-time consensus national player of the year. He is listed at 7-foot-3¾ and 299 pounds. This is his third NBA season.

He played 11 games last season and averaged 13.6 points and 11.1 rebounds. His career highs are 32 points, at Sacramento on Nov. 30, 2025, and 21 rebounds, at Detroit on April 5, 2025.

“So he has one really good quality,” Iisalo added. “He’s not afraid of looking bad. He’s willing to put himself out there, give everything he has, and then improve from that. And that’s a requirement for learning.”

Memphis (7-3) hosts the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT.