I don't know why folks think he can't be a third big, along the lines of a Kornet in the NBA. He'll never be Olajuwon or Shaq or anything, but those were consensus #1 overall picks. If Edey gets drafted between 15-25, and carves out a role playing 10-15 minutes a game for some team, it's not a bad draft pick. That's successful, as far as the back end of the first goes, isn't it?
And I don't see why he can't have a Kornet level career. Saying he doesn't have the upside of Kornet seems weird to me. Kornet can't put the ball on the floor either, he can't stay with quicker players (or even relatively quick players), he's an old school rim protector, guy who bangs around, can catch an easy lob or two and just give you minutes.
I also think Edey suffers from the fact that Matt Painter literally ran the guy into the ground. The guy was on the court in the last 4 games of the NCAA tournament for 38, 39, 40 and 39 minutes (reminder, they only play 40 minutes in college games). Dude was gassed, and rightfully so. He averaged 32 minutes per game over the last 2 seasons, Even when they're out there beating teams by 20, Edey was getting 30 minutes a night.
He's never going to be an NBA all star, but those guys typically aren't being drafted at the bottom half of the first either. I mean, Walker Kessler is out there getting 23 minutes a night. I know they're not the same guy, but I don't see any reason Edey couldn't play 15 a night for someone.