The Portland Trail Blazers have made two splash trades this week. First, they decided to ship an explosive scorer in Anfernee Simons to the Boston Celtics in exchange for defensive-minded veteran Jrue Holiday. On Wednesday, they opted to move back in the 2025 NBA Draft. Officially, they’ll have gone down as having selected Washington State wing Cedric Coward with the 11th overall pick. However, the Blazers will be dropping Coward off with the Memphis Grizzlies while picking up the 16th overall pick, per ESPN senior insider Shams Charania.
As part of the deal, the Grizzlies drafted Qingdao’s Hansen Yang with the 16th overall pick, per HoopsHype insider Michael Scotto. Memphis is sending the 7-foot-2 center to the Blazers, where he’ll join a big man rotation that already features Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III. Fortunately for Coward, he shouldn’t have nearly as much competition for minutes next season.
Grizzlies Trade Into 2025 NBA Draft Lottery For Cedric Coward
The Grizzlies offseason hasn’t been all that eventful. Well, there is that little thing of them trading starting guard Desmond Bane, who has averaged 17.8 points per game in the five seasons since being drafted. That transaction, an agreement made with the Orlando Magic, brought them Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony. They also acquired four first-round picks, including the No. 16 pick that they just used to trade up for Coward.
The Portland Trail Blazers are trading Cedric Coward at No. 11 to the Memphis Grizzlies, sources said.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2025
That said, Memphis is projected to start Caldwell-Pope on the wing next to Jaylen Wells next season. Behind them on the depth chart are Vince Williams Jr. and John Konchar. Yet, Williams is injury-prone and a streaky deep threat. Meanwhile, Konchar’s a seldom-used player whose name appears in trade rumors more than he appears on the court.
Coward doesn’t have the cleanest bill of health himself. Still, he’s a career 38.8 percent 3-point shooter. He’s a far more adept scorer than Konchar, who has a career average of 4.2 points per game.
He also has better length than both Konchar (6-foot-5) and Williams (6-foot-4). At 6-foot-5 (without shoes), he’s the same height as Konchar and just an inch taller than Williams. However, he boasts a 7-foot-2 wingspan, whereas Konchar’s is 6-foot-8 and Williams’s is approximately 7-foot-0.
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