Cedric Coward selected No. 11 overall by Grizzlies (via Blazers) | 2025 NBA Draft Grades & Reaction

Cedric Coward selected No. 11 overall by Grizzlies (via Blazers) | 2025 NBA Draft Grades & Reaction

out. This is interesting here with the 11th overall selection Cedric Coward Division three to a lottery pick. All right. Well look we said we were surprised with Colin Murray Boyles. We said we were surprised with Jeremiah Fiers a bit. And how about a surprise Cedric Coward to the Portland Trail Blazers. Your draft grade is what Adam. Well, they’re trading him to the Grizzlies. Yes. So I would like to know more about the trade before I assess this. I will say this. I was told going into the draft that Carter Bryant was atop the Blazers board. And so if they are moving this pick it is presumably because they think they can move down and draft Carter Bryant. So although I’m going to reserve the right to find out the deal, the specifics of this deal, I think on process alone, that strategy from Portland would be an A. And as far as Memphis, again, you have to know what they’re giving up. But GP, you know this team better than I do. How’s he going to fit there. He will fit great I know that they liked him. They brought him in for a workout and had prioritized him. It seems obvious they didn’t think he was going to fall to 16. They needed to go up and get him. Reportedly they have sent to Portland the 16th pick in this draft, a first rounder in 2028 and two future second rounders. Now. They have done a nice job in Memphis of assembling picks. You know, they got four first rounders in the Desmond Bane deal, so they were always building up to make a move if they needed to. This is a young man who helped himself, I think probably better than literally any other prospect. Throughout the pre-draft process, he played just a handful of games at Washington State and was set to transfer to Duke two months ago. He was not expected to even remain in this draft, much less be picked 11th. But here we are. It’s an amazing story. All right, so Cedric Howard headed to the Memphis Grizzlies. And we’re headed Matt Norlander’s way who wrote a fantastic feature about him on CBS sports.com. And look this is a this is a surprise. He’s going 11th now headed to Memphis. Well having written a feature on Cedric Howard, obviously I’ve been in close contact with him, his family and his camp. And earlier on Wednesday it was it was a message to me that, you know, going as early as number 11 was on the table and they did not think there was any chance he was going to slip past number 16. Memphis was one of the preferred destinations. And interestingly enough, Portland was not. Even though he played at nearby Washington State and Eastern Washington. Cedric Howard is the best story in the 2025 NBA draft, and he has walked a path and done something that’s never happened in the history of the NBA. He had two Division three offers, Division three, not Division one. He had two Division three offers. He started at a terrible Division three team, Willamette. For a year. He played at Eastern Washington for two years. He transferred to Washington State, turning down hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in nil money at high major schools to keep on with his coaching staff, which got the Washington State job. Then he rips up his shoulder. Six games into last season, he has not played organized basketball in more than seven months, and yet he has turned this into a top 11 draft pick. This is incredible. It speaks to his outstanding character, Cedric Howard. Guys, I’ve mentioned this on HQ earlier this week. I’ve interviewed close to, I think, 400 college basketball players in some shape or form over the past 15 plus years. Cedric Howard is one of the five best interviews I have ever done. It is so easy to see how a franchise would fall in love with him from a character perspective, let alone his seven two and a half wingspan on a near six six frame. Some of the efficiency numbers you dive in. Although he didn’t play a lot of high end competition, they’re outrageously good. He was one of the most efficient players off the bench in his first year of Division one, so he will be an amazing fit in Memphis. I’m just telling you, he is ready to go. Having talked to him leading into this process. He’s got he’s got a Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant type of mindset. He says, when I get on the court, I want to kill you. I’m trying to take your hat off, period. That’s all it is. That quotes in that feature at CBSSports.com. He is an incredible, amazing story and really proof. Last thing from me here. Really proof that you can get to the NBA from anywhere. And his closest comp in terms of his rise is Jalen Williams, who I profiled three years ago who went from Santa Clara to a maybe NBA pick to being a lottery pick at Oklahoma City. And now he’s done it. He’s gone even higher in the lottery, and he is considered a potential diamond in the rough here. And he could be the type of player that even being picked at 11 proves to be picked too low. He’s got Olympic ties as well, Matt. I mean, this is a fantastic story and we always like to see these gems. Gary and you know Memphis real well. You know the Grizzlies. It’s exciting to see these stories where you go from from nowhere to somewhere and being a first round pick. But at the end of the day it’s about results. And so when you look at what type of player they’re getting, there’s a lot of unknown. What do you know that you can go this is going to be a good selection here for Memphis. Well he just checks all of the physical boxes that you would want somebody to check. Like good positional size, great body, great frame, great athleticism. And then he can make the shot as well if you’re skeptical of him. And I’m not. But if you are I mean we haven’t really seen him play against high major competition. He didn’t really play much at Washington State at all. So he is going to be the second he steps in that facility surrounded by basketball players unlike anything he’s ever seen. But throughout the pre-draft process, the physical tools were undeniable. And like Norlander said, everybody who talks to this young man spends time with him, walks away impressed. And I can just tell you, having lived in Memphis and being a part of that organization, they really value that stuff. Like they they don’t just draft Jaren Jackson Junior because they think he’s an amazing, versatile big. They really liked everything about the makeup of Jaren Jackson Jr. And Cedric Howard checks a lot of those boxes. Well he was about to go to Duke and he stays and keeps his name in the draft here. I mean that speaks volumes already as it is for him that he was going to go to Duke. Instead, he goes to the NBA because they don’t just let anybody walk into Duke and play basketball there. No. And the wing was the priority position at Duke this offseason. So they got him done really early. But then even before the combine, I was actually told that while he made it public following the combine, that he let Duke know a week before because because some of his very early the initial NBA visits had gone so well, he knew he said, hey, I got to stay in this draft and let me make this point as well. About Memphis. They struck gold in last year’s draft with Jalen Wells. So they moved Desmond Bane out. And now with Coward and Wells the hope is that those are your wings long term cowards 23 years old. That’s right. So he’s five years older than a lot of these freshmen. So this is a this is a pick that that needs a somewhat immediate return because they want to compete right now GP you can speak to this better than I can. But you tweeted they’re not trading ja morant. They’re not trading Jaren Jackson. They’re trying to win. And so coward if he can if he can contribute at a low salary number associated with this pick then it makes sense. Yeah. One of the big misconceptions when the Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane on a national level at least, was that this might be the first step towards moving Jar Jackson or John Morant. They’re not

Adam Finkelstein, Gary Parrish, and Matt Norlander join CBS Sports HQ to grade Cedric Coward being selected No. 11 overall by the Blazers and then traded to the Grizzlies.

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