The NBA season is still young, as the Memphis Grizzlies have played four games to date. However, the rise of their rookie lottery pick, Cedric Coward, has fans excited about the present and future of the team. His 66 points scored through his first four games rank second in team history for most points by a rookie through those same number of games, behind only Ja Morant.
Before his nine-point performance against the Golden State Warriors, Coward held the franchise rookie record with 57 points through three games, which was higher than Ja Morant’s 54 in 2019-20 and Gordan Giricek’s 49 in 2002-03. His start to the regular season is shining a light on why the Grizzlies will likely keep their name in the competitive hat out West for years to come.
Memphis' recent draft history has them set up for continuous success
Cedric Coward ranked second in the first iteration of the Kia Rookie Ladder, which will be released on NBA.com for the entirety of the regular season. He is not the first Grizzlies rookie to receive that kind of praise, as both Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells spent most of their rookie seasons last year in the top five of the Kia Rookie Ladder rankings. They eventually ended their seasons making the All-Rookie First Team.
Going back to 2018, when Memphis drafted Jaren Jackson Jr., they have had at least one player make an All-Rookie team in five out of seven seasons. Ja Morant won Rookie of the Year in 2019-2020, and Jaylen Wells finished as a finalist last season. Of their seven players to make an All-Rookie team within that time frame, six remain on the roster.
Desmond Bane is the only player who is not currently on the roster who made one of the All-Rookie teams. While it is early, all signs point to Bane being traded for another All-Rookie performer in Cedric Coward. Despite coming off the bench as a reserve, Coward ranks second among rookies in scoring average (16.5), second in field goal percentage (69.7%), third in three-point percentage (64.3%), third in free throw percentage (91.7%), and second in steals (1.3).
To take things a step further, second-round pick Javon Small has been asked to play sooner than expected due to injuries and ranks second among rookies in assists (5.3). He appears to be following in similar footsteps as fellow teammate and former second-round pick Jaylen Wells on last season's team. The draft has proven to be general manager Zach Kleiman's calling card, and he has the team on a good trajectory because of it.