The Memphis Grizzlies' Las Vegas Summer League team is 1-1 heading into their third game against the Golden State Warriors. Including their three-game stint in the Salt Lake City Summer League, the team has been without their first-round pick, Cedric Coward, due to recovery from a shoulder injury.
The injury isn't something new, as he only played six games for Washington State last season due to the injury. His draft workout process included him running drills without going against other players due to his injury recovery.
Due to this, Coward hadn't been with the team as he continued to rehab in Memphis at the team's facility. He traveled to Las Vegas on July 14th to be with the team as they prepare to complete their last two games, but he isn't expected to play.
While some fans choose to focus on the negative with his injury, as the team has had injury issues throughout the last couple of seasons, his potential is what most are excited about. As he follows the same path as his star teammate (Ja Morant didn't play summer league due to injury during his rookie season), Coward's hype grows by the day.
Coward's rare measurables make him an almost sure bet to pan out
Grind City Media's Chris Vernon joined the Kevin O'Connor Show at the summer league to talk Grizzlies, and Coward came up. He mentioned how wings with a 7'2 wingspan don't typically fail, which is backed up by data.
Fresno's Fox26 News Sports Anchor Gabe Camarillo shared a tweet on draft night of players with a 7'2" wingspan that have been drafted in the first round since 2016, and the list is impressive. The most notable names on the list are New York Knicks wings OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams amongst others.
Anunoby and Bridges were Grizzlies targets in trade talks before they both ended up in New York, and Jalen Williams just won a championship and has been a bad match-up for the Grizzlies when facing the Thunder. The Grizzlies lost all 10 games combined they played against the Thunder and Knicks this season, mostly due to those bad wing matchups for them to counter.
The Grizzlies have been seeking a wing with those measurements for a while and utilized picks received in the Desmond Bane trade to move up to select him. The odds of Coward panning out are very high, and the Grizzlies organization is excited to see what he can do once he is fully cleared to play.