Why Cedric Coward is the STEAL of the NBA Draft | Chris Vernon Show

Why Cedric Coward is the STEAL of the NBA Draft | Chris Vernon Show

all right so when did you first become aware of Cedric Coward because I am so fascinated by this incredible love affair you have with him as a player and I mean this is a guy that we didn’t see right we didn’t we didn’t watch him play collegiate basketball and a guy that really got on our radar and I think a lot of NBA fans radar just a few weeks ago but obviously you have had um you have had even personal contact with him well prior to when everybody became enamored with him combine on when did you first find out or know about Cedric Howard so you know every year I normally get calls from different agents and agencies asking me for uh just my thoughts on what a player looks like and what does he project to do to be and and maybe what he should be working on in terms of a you know player development plan whether I’m involved with them or not which in most cases I don’t get involved with with them i only can do so many guys and um so a year ago I was asked to come to LA to watch him i don’t think I even saw him in pre-draft i saw him for his pro day and was really under underwhelmed with his lack of athleticism as I as I wrote in the article uh he looked the part until you saw him play and then you were I was I didn’t see any pop like if you’re watching the game and let me just say this uh on behalf of the NBA I apologize for everyone who watches these telecasts and these shows none of them have any idea what they’re talking about when it comes to winning NBA basketball they just they talk of narratives and cliches they don’t really or if they if they understand it they don’t share it with with anyone publicly sadly tragically anyway I’m watching this guy who doesn’t really have any athletic pop in a league that I know how valuable that is and I told the agents involved there were two that uh I don’t see him as a draftable player this year coming from Eastern Washington and I know that he was I think at that point already transferred to Washington State i said he needs to work on his athleticism and they asked me to talk to him and so I did i don’t remember talking to him as I wrote in the article but apparently according to him I told him like “You don’t jump you play like an old man you’re really skilled man but still an old man like we need to see some pop man.” And uh fast forward I mean I was in touch some during the year i think he liked that i was really honest with him he didn’t play but six games this year so that tells you something about how little I really had a chance to give him feedback during the year i went to see him in pre-drafts and I’d already heard he was really impressive in pre-draft workouts with his own group of guys from the agency so I spent a week in LA in May and you could you could hear the dunks before you saw them as the ball was hammering down on the ground and he’s represented by the same agents that work with Ryan Nemhard in the draft who’s been around good players for a long time as you guys probably know and not not just including his brother RJ Barrett and Shay and all those guys and he was telling me it it’s like I’ve never heard explosions like this when the ball hits the ground from a guard which is really what Cedric is in my opinion so when I spoke to him he said “You embarrassed me coach.” And I felt terrible and then he said “No no no you embarrassed me because I let myself forget about the importance of athleticism and focus so much on my skill game I forgot to be an athlete.” And uh then when he jumped 38 and 12 ines in the combine and also did really well on speed and quickness test forget about the physical stuff it it goes without saying that’s when I realized okay this guy’s he’s probably the best prospect in the draft but you can’t not take Cooper flag number one which is why I put him at number two okay why what do you think changed so dramatically beyond the I started to try to be a skillful player but I I had to remember that I do like Do you think there was a drastic improvement in athleticism or that it was just completely untapped when you first saw him that’s a great question i don’t know the full answer because I didn’t really watch anything from Eastern Washington but I did speak to NBA scouts who told me stories of like you know we saw him as a freshman get a tip dunk on this or get a breakout skill dunk on that so that told me he had some athleticism when he was younger and I just don’t think he valued it i also think listen guys I saw Mari Starttomire when he was in high school look as bland and normal as you could look one year later he was competing for rookie of the year and then won rookie of the year i saw him as a high school senior stink up the joint because he was bored out of his mind i think Cedric was playing with his food and didn’t even realize he was that good so I So you asked the question i think the answer is not anything I did i think it was going to the pre-drafts a year ago working out for teams seeing all these talented guys around him and realizing I can be better than these guys i just kind of gave him a little maybe keyhole to follow go through you know okay but I also think he’s super competitive and recognized man I can I can do everything these guys are doing and as I wrote in the article and you may be aware of it the guy’s made over 72% of his field goals for his two-point shots people don’t do that against air and this guy did it in over two years and six games of college i don’t care if it’s D1 low level mid-level it It’s just don’t No one does that that tells me there’s an understanding of what a good shot is it’s very hard to learn how to play this game the skills are one thing which he has but Jaylen Green has skills too he can’t play the game yet he’s gotten better the guy that was in Houston now in Phoenix he doesn’t know how to play the game yet cedric clearly has a feel for the game of what a good shot is and then the ability to make it which is a whole separate issue he’s got both so combine that with athleticism the freak size he’s got a swagger he’s got a maturity i mean he just he’s if he if the guy had gone to Duke as a freshman I mean he would have been a top two pick in this draft there’s no doubt in my mind let’s talk about some of the knocks right all right and you just hit him one by one level of competition do you ever see Damen Linda and John Morance’s competition like who cares i I really don’t care if it it’d be different if we averaged nine points a game for three years against average players but again 72% 40% from three uh he scored I think 30 against Northern Colorado that won like 25 games you know what cooper the ACC sucked this year are you Are we penalizing Cooper flag for that no nor should we right all right college is mostly a game played by men professional men and he did this very well you can knock it he didn’t go number one probably because we’re number two or number three well the Ruters guys lost their games against good competition penalizing those guys so I don’t really care about that okay the second thing is nobody had this kid this high on any of the mock drafts until we really got to the combine right in fact as you mentioned he was going to go to Duke right and so is it one of these combine warriors oh he interviewed great there’s no question he’s got a great head on his shoulders and is a great interview and then he had all of these crazy measurables and so why how can a guy should you beware of a guy that rises that late in the process so let me forgive me for sounding like an old man i am an old man but forgive me for sounding like a cranky one i’m not typically very cranky the mock draft sites and the writers typically have literally no idea what they are doing other than getting people to click okay that’s their job i’m friendly with many of them but but they don’t know anything about the NBA nor do NBA teams or should NBA teams pay attention to any of these things until very very late in the game right just like they should be listening to these college guys who are giving us the best available player for a league they know nothing about okay this is just the reality of it ask your team GM if he really cares what those mockdrafts guys wrote because I heard he was trading up as high as he needed to get to get Cedric right he was think that’s a smart GM because the reality is this Chris you don’t think Portland’s the first team that you think they tried even earlier than Portland i am certain of it oh wow i’m I’m certain of it yeah they that’s how that’s how aggressive they were they were until they could find somebody that would give up their pick to grab that well to be to be fair I don’t know that he didn’t maybe they had a deal at five or seven or nine and said “You know what we don’t have to be that aggressive i have no no knowledge of that i probably will find out.” Yeah but this is what you do is where do where can I get and then can I scale back that’s just smart GMing in my opinion but if you go through these drafts guys start start maybe a couple years ago so you give you give everyone drafted a couple years like maybe start with a Paulo draft if you can find four or five game changers you’ve done a good job okay I think Aaron Nesmith was a game changer he only led the NBA playoffs in three-point shooting and played incredible defense for the most of the Knicks series so he’s probably the low Pton Pritcher is a game changer so so if we can start with that level Andrew Nemar this year game changer you’re lucky to find four or five i’m sorry guys go through this draft if you think there’s four or five guys more likely to be game changers than Cedric sell me on it because I’ve looked at all of them and don’t see it okay i think I found one year where there were eight guys it was really an amazing draft that’s pretty rare okay to have that many so if you’re a GM you’re looking for the game changers if you can’t get one and you may not be able to get one for lots of different reasons or they get someone to make sure that can play a rotation for you and all of that to me Cedric has a chance to be a highlevel game changer one of the things you in that article and I’ve heard you bring this up about him is interesting when we’re talking about comps for a guy and you threw out Kate Cunningham who I mean Kate Cunningham is a primary ball handler oh yeah point guard right amazing he’s amazing you think this guy can be like a primary ball handler yes i think so take away Memphis for a second just think generally speaking if I was running a team I would make sure he gets lots of opportunities to absolutely suck as the primary ball handler and let let him learn like he just did it with Bane for two years that’s true i’m a huge fan of there’s no other there’s no other way to succeed than to fail for and learn uh that doesn’t mean you can’t also play him next to someone else also I mean the Pistons had Ivy before he got hurt along with Cade uh Brunson started off next to Luca harden started off next to all those Hall of Famers in OKC i don’t mind you learning as an offball player but he has primary point guard if you watched him play Washington State only because those players didn’t realize they were playing with a potential AllNBA level player because those guys hey all these NBA guys are here to watch Cedric but I think I can do my thing too used to drive me a little crazy watching those guys play some and I get it that’s how college can be sometimes but he’s got it he’s got that ability he can really pass and again I point to 72% like the guy doesn’t take bad shots or he’s the greatest shooter of all time if you can make 70% of your shots and you have bad shot selection well you’re the best shooter of all time including Curry so let’s assume that’s not the case he’s just a very good shooter finisher no he plays the right way that’s a decision maker and I would argue this when you can make decisions like that on offense you also have the fast processing brain the Draymond Green brain defensively okay so because I think he can be an elite defender so in theory for your team now you’ve got John Triple J obviously uh let him be your one of your primary wing defenders let him learn the game uh hey young man don’t screw up the offense don’t get in anyone’s way take good shots become a good defender which is going to take some time it’s very hard to do it in year one as a rookie few do but maybe he will he has the length and the mind for it be in great shape so you can play 30 plus minutes a night when we need you and we’ll work you in towards what we think you can become which is a highlevel all-star player at least one executive I know for a fact he’s an all-star i had another executive tell a source that is absolutely impeccable like he’s Kobe Jordan like he’s that good this is not me talking come on come on i wrote it in the article Chris this is a a an executive with rings okay with rings as both player slashcoach whatever he got i’m not gonna say but not not just one ring kobe Jordan he’s that good his forwork in the post his forwork on the perimeter uh his shot is beautiful as someone who teaches shooting for a living every everyone shoots kind of differently i don’t really care if you have bad form remember Kevin Martin was like my son so I don’t really care as long as the ball goes in I’m good we can clean up little things his shot I saw him in person his shot is beautiful he’s got to get a lot better when I read about what he’s got to work on it makes me laugh chris okay it takes I tell players it’s four years minimum if you played four years of college you got four years before you become an elite ball handler end of story and that’s only if you played three or four years of college and dribbled a lot it’s really hard to do yeah that’s one you know what i want to stop on this because you and I had this conversation one time and I asked you I when I was talking about players in the draft i said “Can the guy dribble?” I said “We just got exposed against Oklahoma City as they exposed everybody all season and along the way right?” Like “Can the guy dribble under duress?” And your answer to me was “Nobody can dribble under duress Chris there’s like five guys like the people can’t dribble until it takes years.” Yes so so uh as someone who watched the finals very closely try watching Andrew Nehard who was phenomenal in the playoffs two years in a row really but this year especially with the ball and then go watch him play against a where he was a very good player six man of the year started in the national champion all of that it’s night and day it’s JV vers varsity and he’s in year four and he’s 25 it’s hard that’s why OKC plays the way they play right it’s just so so everyone in the draft has to get better ball handling jeremiah Fears name the guard cam Jones who hasn’t been drafted yet all of them have to get better the question is what’s their work ethic like what’s their humility right you want to be confident but also recognizing I’m not I’m not there yet i’ve got to I’ve got to put in the time uh and so knowing Cedric a little bit I think he’s going to be one of those guys that’s going to live in the gym because he wants to live up to what his potential is which is you know all NBA level player do you feel like you are going harder on this prospect like than you have i I look I’ve known you for the better part over a decade now i’ve never heard you go to bat for a prospect like you and look it’s just by happen stance thank god he ends up in Memphis so I get to talk to you about him you could very well be on a show in Portland today or wherever else right and but your opinion wouldn’t change about Cedric Coward based upon him getting drafted to Memphis or Portland or anywhere else right but I’m so fascinated as to why him in particular because you evaluate players and watch film and and go through drafts every single year why him have you gone so to bat for as compared to other guys in the past to the point where nobody is saying what you’re saying which is that he should be the second player selected in this draft right you are on an island with him in a way that I can’t remember you being on an island with a prospect well the LA Well you don’t remember because they didn’t Memphis didn’t draft the player but the last time I was like this uh my son was a freshman at Florida State and one of his fellow freshman teammates was Scotty Barnes so I had a chance to watch Scotty a lot it was a co year but I was able to watch on film and practice of course I watched all their games i talked to my son every day he’s got a very high basketball IQ and when I did the rankings that year I had Moy number one and Barnes number two and Cunningham number three and as I wrote this yesterday maybe maybe I’m wrong kate Cunningham is just fabulous who who cares but any of those three are all NBA level you’re happy with any of them so but I was extraordinarily high on Scotty Barnes as a game as a real game changer for a franchise and uh that’s how I feel about about um Cedric is he’s he’s just that got that same kind of upside and your guy clearly sees it and I know for a fact so does some other executives that would have done anything they could to get him they just couldn’t get up high enough to get him do you think he plays as a rookie i think he has a chance to start oh wow i mean listen what do I know about agency if they bring in a better player than Cedric of which there are many NBA veterans that are better than Cedric right now he is a rookie and he hasn’t played in over almost a year now well not quite a year but you know eight months yeah um absolutely they could find someone better than him and then bring him off the bench i don’t I’m not even suggesting what’s smart you You just got to play him but but I think your your gym is very bright they’re going to play this young man let him fail let him learn on the fly and I like the pressure of having to win because of who he’s playing with to take to make him take it more seriously as opposed to a team that’s just trying to tank i I don’t think that I’ve never been you think it’s a better fit for him to be here than if he would have gone to Washington or if he would have gone to a rebuild i think yes but also because of the the hole you have with Desmond being traded i think he fills that slot differently but aly as a rookie anyway he won’t be as good as it’d be I’d be shocked if he was as good as Desmond was this year what rookie is it’s almost so rare to see yeah sure you can’t expect a guy to average 20 points a game and and shoot 40% from three right right but I think that uh you’re going to see what the Raptors saw in Scotty Bar the second half of his rookie season like “Oh okay i I we like what we have here.” It took Moy a bit before people realize “Oh this dude’s a Hall of Fame level talent certainly an all-star NBA player.” I think Cedric’s going to show enough people this year where Memphis can realize okay he he’s somewhere we really build we we basically have our big three which is hard to get but that’s what they have now they have they have three legit guys that are allstar level players and better j’s got work to do obviously Triple J’s got to get better he He’s already pretty special as they both are i think Cedric is a beautiful compliment to both of those guys and you think he can defend at the NBA level as well obviously the 72 wingspan is the 72 wingspan i mean that’s that’s why I like him the way the way the NBA is guys you have to have if you have the high level scoring guard it’s unlikely he can really play great defense and if he can you don’t want him to too much because it’s really hard to score on offense because you’re going against the other team’s best defender you have to have the other dude that can guard the Tyrese has to have Nemhard right uh Sheay has to have Wallace and Caruso and Dort that has to happen so as you put a team together you have to build that way and so yeah I think Cedric defensively is going to draw a lot jaylen Walls probably too a lot of the better scores but I think Cedric can guard down a little bit and he can guard up even to some smaller fours without doubt with that wingspan yeah and he’s agile enough and fast and quick and he processes super fast look we’re going to meet the kid for the first time tomorrow the interviews like that’s one of the things we haven’t talked about is just as a kid like the interviews are unbelievable and you mentioned that in your article it’s like he’s like a CEO yeah he’s like a executive he has that as I mean I grew up a you know a Jewish kid from my the dad was an attorney i’ve been around some smart people in my life they sound like Cedric you the way the way he talks he’s measured um what I like about Cedric the few times I’ve really had a chance to speak to him is he was a terrific listener and I think he’s going to bond really well with the veterans on your team not that they’re so old cuz they’re not uh what he needs to do and this is the the culture you guys have to put together not you but your the franchise is they’ve got to let him blossom if it turns out to be if he’s better than John Triple J they should be happy right that to me that’s a really important thing when Seakum got to Indiana there was never butdding heads over who’s going to be the guy even though Sakam clearly was a better player Tyrese was young whereas in Toronto they kind of set up a hierarchy where it was like Barnes versus Saka made no sense those guys should have been amazing together so if it turns out Cedric doesn’t get as good as those guys but but you give him a chance to fine but he might be better than that and they need to be upset because they’ll just win more games that way well and that’s the thing that’s a thing I think every you always worry about with any rookies that come in we just went through it Coach Thorp uh this past year right where it was like two years ago was the down year and everybody got injured and we got super excited about Vince Williams and GI Jackson and they both had like you know monster games and it it when we weren’t winning anything and then Vince never came back was a shell of himself post injury and GI Jackson couldn’t figure out how to blend in with the rest it is very difficult for any of these young guys to come in and then understand where they are in the pecking order and being the best version of that right like that is the brilliance of Jaylen Wells a guy that was willing and able to star in his role right if he took six shots tomorrow night that’s fine if he took 12 shots tomorrow night that’s fine too if he took four that’s fine but bro you don’t get to take more shots than John Morant and Jiren Jackson and Desmond Bane and a lot of guys have a very difficult time fitting into that i guess that my question is do you look at Coward as a guy who was the man right like obviously even in the six games that he was playing at Washington State but is a guy that’s malleable enough to come in and be you’re like right every NBA team has stars and role players right and you’re not going to be a star right off the bat can you function without being a star yeah it’s a great way to phrase it that’s why I look at that 72% from the field this is someone that really knows how to play uh and it’s not like he shot it a bunch like I said if if he was a bad shot selector and shooting like that he’s the best shooter ever i think he fits in really good with that and um uh he’s got he’s got the kind of game where he’s not going to get those other guys worse because he’s not a chucker which like Cam Thomas would be a problem with John Mar i like Cam Thomas but he’s going to shoot that thing a lot same as Jordan Clarkson from years ago those guys are chuckers right right i don’t see coward as that at all i think my advice young players always is three things be in amazing shape play defense don’t screw up the beautiful offense your coach is trying to install that’s it when when when guys that I work with get drafted or are rookies and come hire me we sit down at dinner i’m no genius those are the three things we set out but like Penicell and give it time and always works play defense be in great shape don’t screw up the other the coach’s beautiful offense it seems simple it’s hard to do because egos get involved and and and complacency i don’t get the impression he’s going to be that way and I also think your guy your your GM uh who’s got ownership of this isn’t going to let him fail and I think that’s a super important point too is this kid has all-star talent plus make sure you build a system to allow that to grow and not at the expense of Jaw and Triple J there’s no need for that he’s good enough where he can fit in and again look at Brunson and Harden two and there’s lots of examples guys of they learn how to play and fit in and win and then they get an opportunity whether it’s the same team or a different team in the case of Brunson Harden different teams they became something nobody ever imagined they would become oh Gil Alexander as well correct well that’s exactly right just became the MVP right like early in their careers Harden Brunson Gil Alexander if you would have asked anybody in their fir after year two if I’d have told you that guy’s going to be the MVP of the league that one day you’d have thought you’re nuts you’re nuts hallebertton too Tyrese also fair that so here’s the point Chris all those guys had to change teams so to me the real challenge for And I think it it’s going to happen i think the guy who moves up to get Cedric Coward when people thought maybe you shouldn’t although I mean he’s not going to get it to 16 so if you drop them at 16 probably no one bets an eye anyway you want to make sure you get him and I think he was very smart to do it um you don’t want to have to see him go blossom somewhere else you want to make sure you build out that runway let him be an let him impact winning early and then move into the place where okay we got three potential allstars because guess what if you got three allstars on a team you’re winning 55 plus games almost for sure and you’re contending for Chai titles which is the goal it’s why you moved up to get them in the first place

Coach David Thorpe joins today’s episode of the Chris Vernon Show to explain why he’s so high on Memphis Grizzlies draft pick Cedric Coward. Thorpe details why he had him No. 2 on his pre-draft big board, what Coward will bring to the table right away, and why he has an All-NBA ceiling.

Grizz fans, get hyped.

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