2025 NBA Draft: Cedric Coward Scouting Report

A crafty scorer with great patience and feel, Coward excels at getting to his spots. When he’s attacking off the dribble, he slithers around the court, his handle tight and smooth. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 190 pounds, he’s certainly more lean than burly. Nonetheless, he confidently bodies up defenders on post-ups.

When he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, he knows how to get himself open. With his soft touch, this makes him quite the missile from outside; a long-range missile. This is a particularly useful skill with the way the game is played now.

The fact that he’s shooting 59.5 percent from the field for his career only highlights how masterful of a scorer he truly is. That being said, because of his scoring ability, Coward gets a lot of attention from the defense. He’s adept at using that gravity to make plays for his teammates.

At the other end, Coward relies on his length, hands, and timing. Though he’s capable of playing in the passing lanes and taking advantage of lackadaisical ball-handlers, he’s one of the rare perimeter players who’s better at swatting shots than coming away with steals. However, because he can be prone to getting beat off the dribble, his shot-blocking ability is even more important than it otherwise would be.

Will He Declare?

Coward looks like he could make a legitimate impact in the NBA.

In fact, though somewhat of a late bloomer, he’s demonstrated NBA talent for multiple seasons. It would be nice to have more tape on him from the 2024-25 season, for sure. Nonetheless, it’s not as if there wasn’t already evidence he could be a hidden gem.

Due to his shoulder injury, he could look to return to college for another year. Still, Coward should at least listen to what NBA teams have to say. The smart ones will be interested. On Day One, he should be able to make an impact similar to Los Angeles Lakers wing Dalton Knecht, who was a potential lottery pick last year. While he ended up falling to 17th, Knecht is universally considered to be among the best players in his class.