Cedric Coward

Southwest Notes: Fox, Spurs Injuries, Pelicans Core, Coward

December 7th, 2025 at 5:03pm CST by Eli Cohen

With Victor Wembanyama out, De’Aaron Fox has stepped into a leadership role and brought the Spurs‘ offense together, Jared Weiss writes for The Athletic. Fox has become increasingly comfortable getting into the teeth of the defense and then kicking out to shooters, Weiss writes. He has also helped the team get its turnover issues under control.

Weiss notes that the Spurs’ game plan around Wembanyama can, at times, make their offense more predictable, but Fox’s speed and creativity add wrinkles that will help open things up as he continues to build chemistry with San Antonio’s young star.

Fox has also helped the offense with his improved shooting from deep, writes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. Despite averaging 33.2% from three for his career, he is currently shooting 37.8% on 6.4 attempts per game, a weapon which was deployed on two clutch possessions to seal a victory over the Magic on Wednesday.

“If we’re going to play one-on-one, a lot of defenders in this league give me a step, knowing that I’m trying to get downhill,” Fox said. “If they give me the step, I have the confidence to step back, knowing that I have time and space to knock shots down.”

We have more from around the Southwest Division:

Stephon Castle and Luke Kornet are both questionable for the Spurs’ game against the Pelicans on Monday, McDonald notes (via Twitter), adding that there’s some level of optimism about both being able to make a go of it. Castle missed the last nine games for San Antonio with a hip injury, while Kornet missed the Spurs’ loss against the Cavaliers with an ankle injury. Castle is averaging 17.3 points, 7.5 assists, and 1.7 steals in his second season.
While rumors have begun to circulate about the future of the Pelicans‘ core veteran trio of Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and Herbert Jones, some sources around the team say that New Orleans has not held trade talks with other teams about any of the three, reports Rod Walker for NOLA.com. The Pelicans are currently a league-worst 3-21 on the season.
The Grizzlies‘ prized rookie Cedric Coward is looking to accelerate his development by seeking guidance from one of the league’s great wings, Kawhi Leonard, according to Matt Infield of WMC Action News 5 (Twitter video link). “I asked him, like, in the summer, could we get some work in together?” Coward said after the Grizzlies’ win over the Clippers on Friday. “He’s not on social media, so I gotta figure out a way to talk to him.”

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel Named Rookies Of The Month

December 2nd, 2025 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Duke teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have been named the NBA’s October/November Rookies of the Month for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

According to the league, it’s the first time since the NBA began handing out Rookie of The Month honors by conference in 2001/02 that the Western and Eastern winners were from the same college program.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Flagg got off to a bit of a slow start for the struggling Mavericks, but had a big November that he wrapped up by scoring a career-high 35 points in a win over the Clippers on Saturday.

In total, the 18-year-old forward averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals in 34.0 minutes per game across 20 outings in October and November. Flagg made just 25.3% of his three-point tries, but posted solid field goal (46.2%) and free throw (80.3%) percentages.

Flagg beat out Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward and Pelicans teammates Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who were also nominated in the West, per the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, Knueppel won the award over fellow nominees VJ Edgecombe of the Sixers and Hornets teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner. The fourth overall pick has immediately emerged as a go-to offensive option in Charlotte after starring alongside Flagg with the Blue Devils in his first and only college season.

In his first 20 games, Knueppel averaged 18.4 points per game on .470/.413/.898 shooting while also contributing 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.

Flagg is currently the slight betting favorite for this season’s Rookie of the Year award. Both he and Knueppel are considered significant favorites over the rest of the field.

Southwest Notes: Sheppard, Edey, Coward, Pelicans

November 25th, 2025 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets guard Reed Sheppard made just 2-of-9 shots from the floor in his first start of the season on Monday in Phoenix, but he contributed five assists and three steals in his 27 minutes, and Houston was a +6 when he was on the court. It marked the eighth consecutive game in which the Rockets outscored their opponent during Sheppard’s minutes.

While the 21-year-old still has plenty of room to grow, Sheppard has taken a significant step forward so far this season, with his averages – 13.1 PPG and 3.2 APG on .490/.471/.706 shooting – up across the board. As William Guillory of The Athletic writes, Houston’s odds of competing for a title are only increasing as a result of the second-year guard’s improvement.

“The real thing is the opportunity he’s getting, and he’s taking advantage of it,” head coach Ime Udoka said of Sheppard last week. “You’re going to get more of a rhythm with the more minutes and opportunities you get. We needed him to take that step this year, regardless of Fred (VanVleet) being out. He’s really been great. We want him to continue to be confident.”

Sheppard, who started in place of Kevin Durant on Monday, could have another opportunity to be part of the starting five on Wednesday in Golden State, with Durant out for a second straight game for personal reasons.

Here’s more from out of the Southwest:

After missing the first 13 games of the Grizzlies‘ season as he recovered from offseason ankle surgery, center Zach Edey exited his fifth game back early on Monday due to a head injury. If Edey is forced to miss time, it would be a major blow to Memphis, says Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, given that the club has a +16.5 net rating in Edey’s minutes and a -8.0 mark when he doesn’t play. “Zach is a huge part of what we do, both offensively and defensively,” teammate Cedric Coward said after Monday’s loss to Denver. “Just his presence alone is so meaningful to the team. You guys understand, when he came back, how much better our team got defensively, on the rebounding end, even the offensive end. His roles are gravitating guys inside, so we’re getting easier shots on the outside. It was a huge loss.”
Coward has been one of the NBA’s most productive rookies this fall and is making the Grizzlies look good for trading up to No. 11 in June to draft him, as a Western Conference scout tells Grant Afseth of RG.org. “He only played six Division I games after the partially torn rotator cuff, and that made him one of the biggest unknowns in the draft,” the scout said of Coward. “A lot of scouts weren’t sure how his game would translate against top talent because he’d spent most of his college career at Willamette and Eastern Washington. But Memphis clearly saw something real. … And now he’s outperforming even the optimistic projections. He looks completely comfortable at this level.”
The Pelicans‘ past two games provided a reminder of Zion Williamson‘s impact. After scoring just 98 points on Saturday as Williamson sat out the second game of a back-to-back, New Orleans poured in 143 points on Monday vs. Chicago with Williamson back on the court. While the star forward led the way with 29 points, Monday’s performance was a team effort, with eight players scoring in double figures, writes Les East of NOLA.com. “You couldn’t ask for a better team win when you look at the stat sheet,” said interim head coach James Borrego, who registered his first win since taking over for Willie Green.
Outside of the Hornets, who drafted four players in the top 34 in June, no team has gotten more minutes from its rookies so far this season than the Pelicans, according to Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. That trend figures to continue going forward, Eichenhofer posits, since Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, and Micah Peavy are all part of the rotation now and should see regular playing time with several New Orleans veterans sidelined due to injuries.

Southwest Notes: KD, Sengun, Bey, Zion, Mavs, Morant, Edey, Coward

November 18th, 2025 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

When Fred VanVleet tore his ACL prior to training camp, it raised questions about how the Rockets would function without a veteran point guard on the court to organize the offense. However, VanVleet’s absence hasn’t slowed down Houston’s attack at all through the season’s first four weeks — Houston ranks first in the NBA with an offensive rating of 123.4.

As William Guillory of The Athletic writes, the offseason addition of forward Kevin Durant, the ongoing improvement of center Alperen Sengun, and the chemistry quickly formed between that duo have been major factors in the Rockets’ success so far. Durant recently told Guillory that he has never played with a big man who can “dominate in the post” the way that Sengun does. Sengun, meanwhile, said he has “never played with so much space in my life” thanks to the defensive attention that Durant commands.

While Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard have handled their increased on-ball responsibilities admirably in the wake of VanVleet’s injury, the Rockets are frequently running their offense through Sengun, who is operating as something of a “point center,” Guillory writes. The big man is leading the team with 7.4 assists per game, as he and Durant look to take advantage of defenses keying on them by getting their teammates involved — the rest of the Rockets are shooting 48.8% from the floor so far this season.

“We know teams are going to go after Kevin quite a bit. Alpi in the pocket is a great decision-maker and scorer. We invite the double-teams and let Alpi play with the numbers behind it,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “It’s a good thing for us. Alpi gets doubled in the post; KD gets doubled on the perimeter. It opens up shots for everyone else. The chemistry between those guys is really growing.”

We have more from around the Southwest:

Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey missed a game for the first time this season on Monday, having been ruled out of the second end of a back-to-back set due to a sprained left ankle (Twitter link). He was originally listed as questionable, as was forward Zion Williamson, who ultimately sat for an eight straight game. Those initial injury designations suggest that Williamson is close to returning and that Bey shouldn’t be out long.
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who has been without multiple rotation players in every game this season, expressed some frustration on Monday over the team’s ongoing injury issues, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “Our health is a big problem,” Kidd said. “We have guys out for one game and then they’re in and on minute restrictions. There’s no continuity. There won’t be any continuity. We’re trying to piece this thing together, and give those guys in that locker room credit. They’re fighting, and it’s just what it is right now until we can get healthy.”
While rival teams are wondering whether the struggling Grizzlies might consider blowing up their roster, the messaging out of Memphis is that the team has no interest in taking that route and remains committed to building around Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Even if the Grizzlies change their minds and make Morant available, Fischer doesn’t view the Timberwolves as a logical trade partner, given Minnesota’s lack of draft assets and the fact that the Wolves would have to give up at least one valuable starter for salary-matching purposes.
Center Zach Edey, who recently returned from ankle surgery, and forward Cedric Coward, who has been dealing with some foot soreness, were both on minutes restrictions on Saturday, according to Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo. Both players logged about 25 minutes. “It’s a challenging situation, because both guys have done a great job for us, we like to play them a lot and both are starting for us,” Iisalo said, per Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “But at the same time, we have to be smart because their future is also very important for us. So, we’re making sure we make good decisions right here, especially with those two guys.”

Southwest Notes: Morant, Edey, Finney-Smith, Davis

November 15th, 2025 at 8:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant left Saturday’s game in Cleveland midway through the first quarter due to soreness in his right calf, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Returning to the court after missing Wednesday’s contest at Boston due to an ankle injury, Morant was only able to play six minutes against the Cavs, finishing with seven points and two assists. Vardon states that he was jogging gingerly on Memphis’ final possession before being removed.

Coach Tuomas Iisalo told reporters after the game that he’s not sure which play caused Morant’s injury, relays Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link). Morant is expected to undergo further testing, and likely an MRI, when the team gets back to Memphis.

Vince Williams Jr., who took over lead guard duties when Morant exited, turned his ankle late in the first half, per Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link), but he was able to return. The Grizzlies are low on point guards with Ty Jerome yet to make his season debut due to a right calf strain and Scotty Pippen Jr. recovering from toe surgery.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Zach Edey played nearly 25 minutes in his first game of the season and finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. The Grizzlies center is happy that the long recovery process following ankle surgery in June is finally over (Twitter video link from Grind City Media). “It felt good. I’ve been waiting all season,” Edey said. “My legs felt better than I expected. My wind, I didn’t really catch it until like the third quarter. I felt good out there.” Iisalo was happy with the performance of his new starting lineup featuring Edey and rookie forward Cedric Coward (Twitter video link). “Overall I like that lineup,” he said. “It gives us a lot of length, a lot of defense, a lot of physicality. Even though we lost today, I thought overall there were a lot of positives.”
The Rockets‘ depth took a hit with Tari Eason sidelined four-to-six weeks with an oblique strain, and it doesn’t appear that Dorian Finney-Smith will be able to help any time soon, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. The free agent addition is still recovering from offseason surgery on his left ankle and hasn’t been cleared for contact drills.
The Mavericks are listing Anthony Davis as doubtful for Sunday’s meeting with Portland, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who points out that Davis has been considered questionable for the past few games. Davis has missed the last eight games with a left calf strain, and Stein notes (via Twitter) that he’s already been surpassed in career minutes as a Maverick by rookie forward Cooper Flagg.

Zach Edey Returns For Grizzlies; Cedric Coward Moves Into Starting Lineup

November 15th, 2025 at 5:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies unveiled a new-look lineup for Saturday’s game in Cleveland, with Zach Edey making his season debut and rookie Cedric Coward joining him as a starter.

Edey missed the first 13 games of the season as he recovered from offseason surgery on his left ankle. The 7’4″ center took over the starting job as a rookie, averaging 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 66 games while shooting 58% from the field. He finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Coward is off to a strong start after being selected with the 11th pick in this year’s draft, putting up 14.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists through 13 games while playing 26.8 minutes per night. He was listed as doubtful earlier today due to soreness in his right foot, but he was later upgraded to questionable and then given clearance to play.

The lineup changes mean Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jock Landale are coming off the bench after beginning the season as starters.

For Caldwell-Pope, who was acquired from Orlando this summer as part of the Desmond Bane trade, it’s his first game as a reserve since he was with the Lakers during the 2019/2020 season, notes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). The 32-year-old shooting guard has gotten off to a rough start, averaging 8.1 PPG while shooting career lows from the field (35.1%) and three-point range (29.8%).

Caldwell-Pope has been experiencing elbow soreness, which was aggravated during Wednesday’s game, but he’s able to play today, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link).

Landale is a career backup who was signed as a free agent this summer to provide depth at center and handle the starting duties until Edey was healthy. He has taken advantage of the opportunity by averaging career highs of 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds through 13 games while shooting 56.8% from the floor and 48.5% from long distance.

Edey’s return is welcome news for the Grizzlies, who are off to a 4-9 start that included an early-season blowup between head coach Tuomas Iisalo and star guard Ja Morant. Memphis has lost three straight games, including a 131-95 embarrassment Wednesday night in Boston.

The Grizzlies are still short-handed, as Brandon Clarke and Scotty Pippen Jr. are recovering from surgery, Ty Jerome has a right calf strain, Olivier-Maxence Prosper has a left quad contusion and Javon Small will miss multiple weeks with turf toe.

Injury Notes: Edey, Coward, Poole, Dort, Eason, Oubre

November 14th, 2025 at 9:30pm CST by Rory Maher

Second-year center Zach Edey could make his season debut on Saturday. He has been listed as questionable for the matchup in Cleveland, the Grizzlies announced (via Twitter).

As Michael Wallace of Grind City Media writes, the Grizzlies are reeling, with seven losses in their past eight games and a 4-9 record on the season. The team is looking forward to having the former Purdue star back in the middle.

“He brings a lot,” head coach Tuomas Iisalo said of Edey. “He’s a tremendous finisher around the rim, and he also has a gravitational pull that forces defenders to have to help.”

Edey has been steadily ramping up his activity after undergoing ankle surgery in June, which prevented him from participating in training camp and the preseason. Iisalo cautioned that there will be an adjustment period for the 7’4″ big man once he returns, Wallace adds.

“He’s a tremendous rebounder on both ends, which is a huge benefit,” Iisalo assessed. “He’s a high-level rim protector, and having both him and Jaren (Jackson Jr.) as our twin towers out there worked really well for us last year. He’s also a second-year player who had an operation five months ago. So, it will be a gradual process to bring him along and we just have to stay true to our process.”

After missing Wednesday’s game in Boston due to a right ankle injury, point guard Ja Morant will be active on Saturday, but standout rookie wing Cedric Coward is doubtful to suit up due to right foot soreness, per the team.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

While Pelicans guard Jordan Poole is making “good progress” in his recovery from a mild left quad strain, he’ll miss at least one more week, which is the next time he’ll be reexamined, the team today announced in a press release (Twitter link). Poole is in his first season with New Orleans, having been acquired in an offseason trade with Washington.
Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, who has missed the past five games with a right upper trap strain, has been upgraded to questionable for Saturday’s game at Charlotte, tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. The 26-year-old forward could hit free agency next summer, depending on what the Thunder do with Dort’s $18.2MM team option for 2026/27. The Montreal native was named to the All-Defensive First Team in 2024/25.
Impending restricted free agent Tari Eason suffered a right hip contusion in Friday’s matchup against Portland and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, according to the Rockets (Twitter link via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). Eason, a 24-year-old forward, entered Friday’s game averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on .517/.531/.714 shooting (24.5 minutes per contest).
Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason, exited Friday’s loss in Detroit with a hyperextended left knee and did not return, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter). After a 4-0 start, the 76ers have cooled off of late, dropping five of their past eight games.

And-Ones: Brown, Adams, Luxury Tax, Top Rookies

November 14th, 2025 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard/forward Troy Brown Jr. has signed a rest-of-season contract with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League, writes Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

The 15th pick in the 2018 draft, Brown spent six years in the NBA, suiting up for the Wizards, Bulls, Lakers, Timberwolves and Pistons. The 26-year-old last played in the league during the 2023/24 campaign.

Brown spent part of last season in Turkey, then briefly played in Puerto Rico in the spring.

“Troy has great size and length,” 36ers GM Matt Weston said in a press release. “He’s a legitimate shooter who is very good on the defensive side of the ball with great hands.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The Brisbane Bullets of the NBL have released former NBA point guard Jaylen Adams, Uluc reports for ESPN. Adams went undrafted in 2018 out of St. Bonaventure and spent most of his rookie year on a two-way deal with Atlanta, ultimately making 41 total NBA appearances through the 2020/21 campaign. He has spent most of the past four seasons in the NBL, including winning MVP in ’21/22 and leading the Sydney Kings to a title that season. However, the 29-year-old has looked disengaged of late, according to Uluc, and his statistics are down considerably from last season. The team cited behavioral and cultural concerns as reasons why it decided to cut Adams loose, sources tell Uluc.
Eric Pincus of SportsBusinessClassroom.com has updated his NBA luxury tax tracker for the ’25/26 season, with 16 clubs currently below the tax line and 14 teams in tax territory. The Nets and Jazz have the most room under the tax, while the Cavaliers have — by far — the most expensive roster in the league, with a projected tax bill of nearly $164MM.
ESPN’s Zach Kram ranks the top 10 NBA rookies, writing that his list is based on how each young player has performed through the first three weeks of the season and not a projection or a prediction on who might win Rookie of the Year. Three Hornets (Sion James at No. 8, Ryan Kalkbrenner at No. 5, and Kon Knueppel at No. 3) are on Kram’s list, with Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe ranked second and Grizzlies wing Cedric Coward coming in at No. 1.

Grizzlies Notes: Morant, Jackson, Coward, Vibes

November 6th, 2025 at 9:03pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Grizzlies are off to a 3-6 start to the season and have already suspended Ja Morant for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.

While rumors have started to circulate about teams keeping an eye on the situation, there’s still no indication that Memphis would consider moving Morant, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line — at least, no indication yet.

“Nobody’s doing seismic, monumental things before 20, 25 games have been played,” an agent told Fischer, who notes that the team is still in the evaluation stage after a significant offseason roster shakeup that included trading Desmond Bane to Orlando for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and four first-round picks.

According to Fischer, indications are that leadership wants to see what head coach Tuomas Iisalo can do with the roster when it’s closer to full strength before making any decisions. Brandon Clarke, Zach Edey, Ty Jerome, and Scotty Pippen Jr. have all missed time to open the season.

We have more from the Grizzlies:

While the Morant situation has been the subject of the most scrutiny, Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s struggles to find his place in the offense have been an important part of the story too, writes Damichael Cole for Memphis Commercial Appeal. Jackson finished with just nine points on six shots in Wednesday’s loss to the Rockets after entering the game averaging the second-lowest field goal attempts since his rookie year. “He got this little trail three he used to get a lot,” said teammate Vince Williams Jr. “He hasn’t been shooting that as much. I think he’s just being over passive, but we need him to score if we want to win, so he’s got to score.”
Iisalo has made it clear that getting Jackson more involved is a priority moving forward, though Cole writes that Morant told the head coach the team’s ability to spread the defense out is also an issue. “It’s not enough space,” Morant said. “We got to make more shots and open up the floor for him.” Jackson, for his part, said that he’s “very confident” that he will return to form soon. “You just got to be aggressive,” Jackson said. “You just got to be in attack mode.”
One of the few bright spots in Memphis so far this season has been the play of rookie Cedric Coward, who was selected with the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft after the Grizzlies traded two of the first-rounders acquired in the Bane deal — including the 16th overall pick that became Yang Hansen — to get him. Coward currently ranks third on the team in scoring, rebounding, and steals, and is second in made three-pointers. However, it doesn’t appear that a promotion to the starting lineup is in the immediate future. “We think about that with all of our players,” Iisalo said when asked about the idea (Twitter link via Cole). “… A lot of times it doesn’t make sense to have, for example, all of your best on-ball creators in the same lineup. His minutes have been steadily going up because of his overall impact. I think that’s the more important thing than like who is starting and who is not.“
There are palpable bad vibes surrounding the team, according to Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports, and not just related to Morant. Iko writes that after years of boasting an energetic, fun-loving style of play, the team is missing the edge and confidence it once wore on its sleeve. Iisalo is aware of the change. ” It’s very hard to build confidence if you’re consistently losing,” he says. “It’s great to be around other guys when you’re winning, and when it’s losing, it tests you and reveals a lot of that character. We’re losing and it’s being tested and there’s only one way out from there.”
Iko points to a different style of attack after years of playing in Taylor Jenkins‘ scheme as part of the cause. Morant’s attempts at the rim are down and his perimeter shots are up, and the team seems more stagnant at times than it used to. Jackson echoed the sentiment. “The longer you’ve done [something different], it’ll take a little longer than the average person to snap back into something new,” the former Defensive Player of the Year said. “You have to have full belief in it and have to give yourself up for it, full belief that it will work every single time. Otherwise, you’re going to be hesitant. Any little bit of hesitation in professional sports will get you a loss.”

Grizzlies Notes: Coward, Iisalo, Morant, Edey

November 3rd, 2025 at 9:38pm CST by Rory Maher

In an interesting story for Andscape, Marc J. Spears details Cedric Coward‘s unconventional journey to the NBA. The Grizzlies wing, who was selected 11th overall in June’s draft, had no Division I offers as a high school senior and spent his freshman college season on a non-athletic scholarship at Willamette University, a Division III school in Salem, Oregon.

“It was hard to believe I could go to the NBA then, if I’m being honest,” Coward said. “But I had to because I’m a big believer in manifestation and seeing where you want to be in life. And I always watch basketball all the time, especially NBA games. You have to imagine yourself on the court. Either that or the dream can die.

“And for me, even though it was hard, I felt as if I was working out for a team or I was on the court in a game. Even though I wasn’t in that situation, you had to keep believing in yourself. And for me, I had to keep making that vision possible, or in my mind at least.”

As Spears writes, after a strong freshman campaign for the Bobcats, Coward transferred to mid-major Eastern Washington. He had a relatively modest role as a sophomore, but started to garner NBA attention during his junior season and tested the draft waters in 2024 before withdrawing. Coward transferred to Washington State as a senior and was off to a terrific start before a torn labrum in his shoulder ended his season early.

Despite only playing six games for the Cougars, the 22-year-old rose up draft boards due to his elite efficiency and an excellent performance at the combine. After shaking off some rust during the preseason, Coward has impressed both the Grizzlies and people around the NBA, averaging 15.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals on .587/.478/.909 shooting through seven games (25.3 minutes per contest).

“The first thing you got to know about Cedric is his approach to the game and his professionalism,” head coach Tuomas Iisalo said, per Spears. “That is what’s driving the daily development. He has tremendous tools for a wing. He’s got great length, physicality. He’s athletic. He’s skilled. So, he has all the tools in place.

“It’s been a tremendous learning curve for him, obviously, not having played a lot in the last year because of his injury and then jumping from a relatively low level to the NBA. So, it’s been really impressive what he has been able to do in a short amount of time and with a short amount of practice time and live games.”

We have more from Memphis:

Prior to Monday’s contest, Iisalo was asked about the one-game suspension Ja Morant received for conduct detrimental to the team. Iisalo reportedly challenged Morant’s “leadership and effort” after Friday’s loss to the Lakers, and Morant responded in an “inappropriate and dismissive way.” According to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link), Iisalo repeatedly said, “We had a discussion and we’re all looking to move forward and beat the Pistons tonight” anytime he was asked about the incident.
Although Iisalo didn’t reveal much about the Morant situation, he did broadly discuss his substitution patterns, which is reportedly one of the issues Morant has with the Finnish coach, who is in his first full season at the helm. To briefly summarize the in-depth response (Twitter link via Herrington), Iisalo said that while he understands that players might be accustomed to playing longer stretches at a time, the goal of the shorter shifts is to find a competitive advantage for the team, both now and going forward.
A combination of off-court incidents, injuries, and declining production has Sam Quinn of CBS Sports questioning whether it’s time for Memphis to move on from Morant after his latest controversy. While Quinn argues the Grizzlies may be better off without Morant, he acknowledges finding a trade partner would be tricky, and the team likely wouldn’t get much in return for the 26-year-old guard, who is on a maximum-salary contract that runs through 2027/28.
Second-year center Zach Edey is progressing from offseason ankle surgery, having been assigned to and then recalled from the Memphis Hustle in order to practice with the G League club on Monday (Twitter links via the Grizzlies). It’s an encouraging sign for the Grizzlies, who have been without Edey and Brandon Clarke (knee surgery) to open the season.

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