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Grizzlies land rising star Cedric Coward in No. 11 pick trade with Blazers
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- Grizzlies land rising star Cedric Coward in No. 11 pick trade with Blazers
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The post Grizzlies land rising star Cedric Coward in No. 11 pick trade with Blazers appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Memphis Grizzlies made one of the first big swings of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, sending the No. 16 pick and other draft assets to the Portland Trail Blazers to move up to No. 11 and select Washington State star Cedric Coward . ESPN's Shams Charania was first to report the trade.
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In addition to the 16th pick, Portland will receive a 2028 first-round pick as well as a pair of second-rounders, per Charania.
The move comes as the latest trade in a busy offseason for the Grizzlies, which has already seen them trade away Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic . While Bane was arguably the best perimeter shooter on this Memphis squad, Coward will come in and be equipped to replace that perimeter production right away.
The former Eastern Washington standout was widely regarded as one of the best shooters in the draft and should be able to effectively space the floor for the Grizzlies immediately. He shot at least 38% from deep in each of his last three college seasons, so he should step in right away as an effective sharpshooter in Memphis.
Coward only played in six games last season at Washington State in 2024-25, but he shot 40% from 3-point range on five attempts per game, so his elite shooting was on display the whole time. In his last full season at Eastern Washington in 2023-24, Coward shot just over 38% on more than four attempts per game. He backed that up with a stellar performance from downtown at the combine.
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College talent evaluators had taken notice of Coward's ability, leading him to commit to Duke out of the transfer portal after the season ended. However, his great combine performance led to him being one of the biggest consensus risers during the draft process, and he chose to stay in the NBA Draft instead of heading to Durham.
The Grizzlies' willingness to invest these kinds of assets into getting Coward shows that they have a plan to use him in the rotation early on in his career. If he pans out, he can be a great complement to Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. on the floor in Memphis.
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