Cedric Coward Scouting Report
Cedric Coward Scouting Report
Shooting prowess combined with toughness, physicality, and multipositional defense is what makes Coward an NBA-ready prospect. But what will his role be? What's the long-term potential? Find out below
Introduction
Originally from Fresno, CA, Coward has had a successful high school career, being a two-time River ALl-Conference member while winning 2021 Central HS Athlete of the Year. Hereafter, he joined the prestigious Willamette University, which competed at the Division III level.
After a fantastic season, averaging a double-double as a freshman, he transferred to Eastern Washington, where he was a Winter Big Sky All-Academic team member. While he’s an example student for his peers, his success extended to his on-court activities, scoring over 15 points per game as a junior.
He eventually got re-recruited by Coach Riley, who accepted the highly-touted job at Washington State. As a senior, Coward will be a crucial factor in the Cougars’ debut season in the WCC. While being known as a shooter, Coward will have a complete package of responsibilities as an option in the post on top of his perimeter duties. His level of offensive versatility is the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-6, Coward has a long, wiry frame while being listed at 206 pounds. He has incredibly long arms with a reported 7-foot wingspan. More importantly, he has broad shoulders and a well-filled frame. His strength extends to his upper-leg area, while he has fluid hips. He's a solid option to play in the post, serving as a decision-maker and scorer.
Coward has improving footwork. His quick feet make it easy for him to defend guards effectively, while he has the tools to be more physical against bigger and stronger players. He’s used to playing in an inside-out role, especially on the defensive end. That made him a highly effective rebounder, as Coward is comfortable switching from the two to the four position.
Versatility is the name of today’s NBA game, and teams look for combinations of twitch and quickness, while Coward also brings physicality and toughness to the table.
Offense
Catch-and-shoot
Coward shot 38.6% on 2.5 attempts per game during his two seasons at Eastern Washington. Based on the numbers, it’s easy to label him as a good shooter, but scouting is more than that. The goal in Coward’s NBA role is to make his shooting feasible enough that his inside game will be more effective, holding his outside shooter as gravity. Purely looking at the consistency of his form, it’s clear why Coward is so comfortable in his role as a volume shooter.
The comfort and fluidity of his jumper is what he’s consistently showing. Coward’s habit of bringing the ball underneath his chest to power back up isn’t the best when it comes to quick releases, so that’s something an NBA decision-maker might want to change in the future. But Coward sets his feet quickly while being a vocal player who actively asks for the ball. Another important detail is that he’s not standing still, waiting for the ball, but relocates effectively, always looking to get open when defenses are rotating, as shown in the first play below.
Coward is too comfortable at times when playing as a spot-up shooting option. In the second play, attacking the closeout was the better decision, as his slow release due to bringing the ball underneath his chest led to the defender closing out effectively on him. Another area of development is not to hesitate when he’s wide open. In the third possession below, it looked like Coward was not comfortable with that much space to shoot, due to him taking longer to get to his release than he usually does.
When coming off movement, Coward’s quick feet and shooting motion are put on display. In the fourth play below, he shows flashes of how effective his footwork is as a part of his shot process. Things will get more feasible for NBA scouts as Coward projects to carry heavier three-point shooting usage in his senior year at Washington State.
Post-ups
For the NBA, Coward’s combination of efficient shooting with his post-up game makes him a unique wing prospect. The ability to maintain a team’s offensive rating with three-point shooting gives him more insurance to be used as an interior hub as he brings guard skills to the table, such as ball handling and offensive creativity, while he’s posting up against forwards and some college big men.
His footwork is the base for his success on that end. In the first play below, Coward is forced to work in a phone booth but immediately goes to action by bumping into his defender before launching in the fake to draw the foul, nearly getting the and-one. The goal was to find cutters with no open teammates or passing angles available, Coward showed his creativity by creating something out of a well-defended possession by his opponents.
However, at times, he’s too willing to score via post-ups. After the baseline out-of-bounds play in the second possession below, his teammate was wide-open near the elbow. Coward chose to finish the play himself. The main reason why we see fewer post-up plays in the NBA nowadays is that the value of the shot isn’t feasible anymore to the offensive ratings NBA teams are used to getting. That’s why he should focus on his court vision and passing more. Coward has to show that he can improve on some of the tunnel vision he occasionally suffers from.
While finishing 72.0% of his non-dunked rim attempts, Coward’s scoring prowess is confirmed by his excellent decision-making. He’s a smart and creative scorer who immediately recognizes vital things, such as helping defenders around him. In the third play below, Coward saw that the weak-side defender was too busy covering the passing lane, trusting his instincts to bring it to the rim with his quick first step, sealing off his assignment comfortably. We see a similar smooth spin move in the last play below, confirming how good and functional the hip mobility is.
Passing
As a proven advantage-creator, Coward has enough gravity to make an impact as a passer and playmaker. With his scoring prowess in place, he’s mostly being used as an optional playmaker while the team’s structure leans toward guard play rather than Coward being the creator for his teammates. That’s resulting in the 1.7 assists to 2.2 turnovers in his junior year. But those numbers have little value, as the NBA context will be much different.
At the next level, everyone has to be able to make quick decisions with the ball in their hands. Coward’s shooting gravity creativity, and quickness in the post make him a helpful hub to run a variety of sets. With more teams experimenting with four, or even five-out offenses, Coward’s size, twitchiness, and hip fluidity make him a mobile interior presence to create advantages. In the second play below that leads to the skip pass while he’s operating with his back to the basket after the entry pass.
Coward has a good nose for when and where to find his teammates. In the fifth possession below Coward does well to attack the closeout, using his interior-scoring gravity to his advantage. After getting two feet inside the paint, he sells the layup through contact before kicking the ball back out. An important context in Coward’s playmaking is that he hasn’t been asked to serve as a passer much. Therefore, adding him taking the easy decisions in the first, third, and fourth play below were must-adds because Coward lacks the consistency of executing his self-created reads, and mostly plays within the flow of the offense as a passer. NBA decision-makers need to consider changing that once he’s in the NBA.
Pick-and-roll ball handler
Coward’s athleticism as a quick and twitchy ball handler translates to him being a self-creating scorer out of the pick-and-roll. His speed helps him to get by opponents fast, while that’s the leverage he holds as defenders know he doesn’t need the screen to create advantages. For the NBA, ball touches to make his plays might be a part of what he’ll ascend toward during the first year of his career. Therefore, this part of the evaluation doesn’t hold much value for the short value but gives a vital part of his long-term trajectory.
In the first play below, Coward rejects the drag screen before forcing the interior rotation to stop him from getting two feet inside the paint. What holds NBA value in his self-creation is that he’s a fluid finisher with a soft touch, especially when he’s getting to that mid or low-post area. His upper-body strength and frame help him to keep his balance against physical defenders. However, the lack of consistency in playing as a pick-and-roll ball handler makes Coward vulnerable to hard hedges or defenders blitzing him, as shown in the second possession below.
At times, Coward is too focused on getting the bucket by himself, making it easier for defenders to have help defenders ready to focus on him. In the third play below, he’s driving into a crowded area while trying to dribble out of it. In the clutch, that’s a potential game-losing play on his part. Therefore, more responsibilities on the offensive end will play a vital part in making his trajectory as a self-creator scorer via the pick-and-roll more feasible for the NBA level.
Defense
Pick-and-roll defense
The other side of the coin for Coward’s physical tools is his having to show he can defend in the pick-and-roll. With today’s NBA mostly leaning toward positionless basketball, we see more inverted pick-and-rolls. The physicality aspect against stronger bigs isn’t much of an issue, but the ability to effectively guard against ball handlers and creators is the challenging part. Coward does a good job of showing an active approach, not following a script in his pick-and-roll defense but reacting to what he sees. Naturally, especially having played at lower levels, mistakes are to be made.
In the first play below, Coward has to switch to the ball handler but insists on staying to his assignment relocating to the corner. It’s more luck than wisdom here that Coward gets the opportunity to get the deflection with the ball handler switching sides and staying on the weak side, opening up Coward’s opportunity to use his length and snag the ball away for the steal. That’s what he’s most comfortable doing. Once Coward has to fight through screens, his navigation looks above average on that part. In the second play, he does well to tag the screener to eventually use the tag and contact to slide between him and the shooter, where the right arm continues to bother the ball handler, forcing the unbalanced off-the-dribble three.
In the second line of defense, Coward’s biggest unique selling point is the leaping ability combined with his length. He’s not comfortable consistently playing drop coverage. Still, with the big men screening him out of the play to create the wide-open shot above the break, Coward does well to fight through the screen without fouling, eventually having a decent contest for the shot in his arsenal. At 2.0 personal fouls for two consecutive seasons, he shows he can remain in control despite the aggressive and tough nature of his defensive play. An area of development for Coward is shown in the last play below. As a reaction to the scorer’s jab step, Coward automatically takes a step back, making it an easy task for the big man to screen him out of the play. That’s why his focus in his senior year at Washington State should be to rely less on his drop coverage and eliminate the habit of responding too much to jab steps and fakes.
Post-ups
As mentioned, the physicality that Coward brings to the table makes him a multipositional defender, especially when playing in smaller line-ups. His upper-body strength and toughness allow Coward to continue that style of play at the NBA level. However, he has some fundamental areas to work on, with his positioning in post-up defense being vital. In the first play, he’s allowing the opposing big man to establish good positioning, where Coward has no chance to counter after the entry pass. He’s vulnerable to stronger big men sealing against him, not because of a lack of strength, but bad positioning due to his perimeter-oriented game bringing the habit of sticking closer to the three-point line.
When he’s positioned properly, we see Coward being physically ready to not give up space in the post-up battle, as shown in the second play below. However, his decision-making against fakes is not good enough, due to a lack of runway as a defender in the post. At times, Coward looks too reactionary due to partially a lack of confidence by acknowledging it’s a mismatch for him while it shouldn’t be. NBA decision-makers will be impressed with how he uses his upper-body strength to contest when post-up scorers go for their finish. In the third play below, we see him use his chest strongly, handling the contact while putting his opponent out of balance.
The most vital area of development for this upcoming season is the positioning. The fourth play is another example of Coward staying too close to the perimeter, giving away the big man the opportunity to seal and find the finish they are looking for. That’s the focus point for NBA decision-makers when presenting Coward with a developmental plan as a part of his draft cycle.
Catch-and-drives
Positioning issues extend to Coward’s closeouts. He’s struggling to maintain 180 degrees of his assignment, making him more vulnerable to getting burned off the dribble. In the first possession below, Coward reacts to the ball being more on the strong side, rather than where his man is. For his opponent, that led to switching sides with the ball and immediately launching to utilize the wide-open driving lane on the weak side.
What’s interesting in the second possession below is that Coward is more comfortable in the second line as an off-ball defender, doing great to cover his assignment while using the gravity of his length and disruptive play to impact ball handlers. In today’s NBA, he has much more motion and ball movement compared to college that’s something he can partially compensate for his below-average closeout defense.
In the third play, Coward is caught by giving a driving lane away to his opponent after closing out. The basics of staying at 180 degrees during his assignment are what he needs to instill in his defensive habits. In Big Ten play, the level of competition becomes better, making it likely that the sample size for NBA decision-makers to evaluate progress will be there. The physical tools and quickness are no issues for Coward to adjust to at the next level.
Catch-and-shoot
When Coward is closing out toward spot-up shooters, we see him often get caught ball-watching while staying with one, sometimes two feet inside the paint. The advantage is that if a play stays on the strong side, it’s easier for him to rotate. But the other side of the coin, especially for NBA purposes, is that more motion, ball movement, and spacing-oriented styles of play focus on finding open shooters, mostly on the weak side. So Coward is in a good position as he can use his great leaping ability and length to close out on shooters especially when improving the earlier-mentioned positioning issues.
The first play below shows an example of him being too locked into what happens during the action on the other side, with a late closeout on his part. The second possession below is more telling of what is described, as he missed the assignment and was bailed out by the shooter not attacking the wide-open lane to find the easy two at the basket. For Coward, it’s vital to have more runway and sample size during his year in the Big Ten to get more accustomed to making quicker decisions as a closeout defender. In the third play, the NBA-ranged three was recognized too late, as Coward still had two feet inside the paint with his opponent relocating to take the above-the-break three after the side pass. There’s a similar play in the fourth possession below.
The area of development for Coward is to slowly move toward keeping one foot inside the paint and his other one flexible to what action gets called on the perimeter. Otherwise, he’ll, more often than not, be too late with his closeouts. And that’s what will hurt an NBA team’s defensive rating, with the consequences of him finding fewer minutes at the next level.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Cedric Coward to be a late second-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. His promise as a shooter, combined with the multipositional character of his game makes him a great candidate to get signed to a two-way contract and get runway to play rotational minutes in the NBA.
The need for physicality, toughness, and the ability to defend both in the post and on the perimeter is needed for all thirty franchises, making it less likely he will be an undrafted free agent, as franchises won’t want to get in a bidding war and offering guaranteed money upfront, rather than playing it safe with a two-way contract.
The readiness of Coward’s game as a shooter and team defender while offering the positional size to be a taller two and three while being physically ready to play a four is the decisive factor. A franchise is buying physical tools rather than a finished product. That keeps him out of the first round.
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