NBA players athletes are going to be a lot harder to stay in front of IMO. That's great he was able to do it in college and has a high IQ, but not sure how much that will help him in the NBA if he's at a big disadvantage athletically. I'm not for or against picking him, but I don't like the sounds of those numbers Rascal mentioned.
College players. The NBA is a whole different animal, athlete wise.
I like him, but i was surprised to see he wasnt a sure thing on defense. That and the age has made me cool on him some, but i still wouldnt mind him at 14
Coward is a sleeper. Used to destroy people in draft workouts last year. Huge wingspan and supreme athleticism. Won't fall past OKC at #15. He's a guy I really want, but I'd rather get KD.
I don't understand. He destroyed guys in draft workouts but pulled out of the draft?
He believed he could improve his draft position by playing division 1 for a year. He was at Eastern Washington before transferring to Washington State. Then he suffered the injury to his shoulder 6-7 games in. He impressed during the games he did play. 17 pts, 7 rebounds, 3.7 ast, 1.7 blk, 40% from 3. 26 PER. Hit large volume of 3’s, midrange and was a force in the post against smaller players. He was 99th percentile as a 3-pt shooter and 99thr percentile in the post scoring. 1.7 blocks from a wing is elite. Rebounds great for his position. Tested as one of the best athletes at the combine. Interviews well. Dominating Workouts.
He is the same level of athlete that Shane Battier was. Battier was a plus defender for most of his career. Plenty of great athletes are terrible defenders. Effort and IQ matter. Watch the tape. His defense is impressive. Stop making assumptions.
Nobody that has a chance to be drafted lottery, even top 20... , first round at all, prefers to go back to College to play in Washington State. Maybe he could have taken his chances in the second round, I certainly don't remember him being highlighted at all but he was probably in somebody's radar, but for sure it wasn't a case of him having any sort of guarantees at all or else he'd be in the NBA already.
Also, the hype is out of control, nobody except for the most crazed of draft people knew much about him until a couple of months ago, I had interest in him as a second rounder because of his interesting profile going through draft boards, but there was almost no talk about him and certainly nothing even remotely close to your description. I'm not bashing him, in fact I think he's a solid candidate at 14, but he's almost 22, has had serious injuries (shoulder injury with cartilage damage that required surgery and an entire season to heal, and I don't remember exactly but there were others before that), his lateral mobility isn't great, his defense is mostly theoretical (a lot of it is projection on measurables), etc.
As for his interviews, I watched one and it was ok, it felt a little coached and forced at times, like he was trying to sell himself too hard, but nothing that would have you rave about for a 22 year old. All in all a prospect definitely worth taking a long look at 14, but not someone I'd go crazy about overpaying to secure as he isn't risk free either.
I only discovered him because I love looking at all the advanced analytics and his name kept popping up. I was like who the F is Cedric Coward. I don’t start watching college basketball until football season is over so I didn’t see his early season stuff. When I found the tape I was impressed. I wrote about him being a sleeper on this forum back in March or April. Everyone laughed me and made comments about him not even being draft worthy. His name really started gaining steam in May when he transferred to Duke.
A reason of the hype around Coward is that this kind of 3&D player is highly valued by NBA teams. He has the length and quickness to defend multiple positions (2 to 4 and even some 1) and he projects as a good off the ball offensive player.
Carter Bryant fit that mold and will likely be a lottery pick despite being a college bench player averaging 6ppg. Last year, Risacher was drafted #1 in a weak draft despite having on the ball limitations.
These players aren't the most talented of the world but they are very important to teams. Spurs badly need one to complement their 4 core players.
Question is, they are packaging the 14th as part of a trade
So, where does this leave us?
With Dylan Harper
It’s not an sssumption to say that NBA athletes are far better than NCAA athletes, it’s a fact. Just because he can check college guards doesn’t mean that the ability will transfer up a level.
I compare him to Nic Batum
yet when it comes to Dylan Harper y'all think everything will translate. Make it make sense.
I'm not sure anyone is saying Coward definitely won't translate. People are saying he played six games this year and that was the cupcake schedule part of the year. People say he creamed the compe ion in the draft combine last year but somehow stayed in college anyway. It calls for a bit of caution.
We have much more tape of Harper against high level compe ion of his age. Of course players sometimes don't translate.
I'm getting more curious about trading back in the draft, probably with Brooklyn, who has too many picks. We'd go back to 19 and 26. I'm not a fan of the 14 area right now and believe there will be players like McNeely floating down toward the 20s. I'd be fine with him and like Reynaud at 26. I'm sure other teams will have the same idea, though. And I don't think the team would mind taking three rookies this year.
Yeah, I agree. The more I think about it, the less I'm impressed by the prospects available at 14, they all have plenty of question marks not too different to those you can find in the late 20s and teens. Hopefully someone like Queen slips and that entices a team to move up. Could be for a late first and a future first too. Some scenarios, say if we trade 14 + 38 for 19 + 26:
Beringer + Drake Powell
Liam McNeely + Kalkbrenner
Fleming + Sorber
etc. I'd probably take any 2 man combination out of those than any individual player available at 14.
Dylan Harper is a top prospect with legit lead guard skills. It doesn’t really matter if he can stay in front of guards, because he has a ton of different skills he brings to the table. He also matched the supposedly athletic Edgecomb in all tests except one.
Coward is not. He’s a D3 refugee who played. 6 games in D1. He stayed in front of some college guards. Wow. I’m not saying he won’t make it, but to state unequivocally because he stayed in front of some college guards that he can check NBA guards is foolishness. It’s wishcasting.
I agree on the overall point, but I don't think Coward is best suited to guard 1s or even the fastest of 2s, I don't think he has the foot speed to keep up with them, while he seems strong and long enough that he can realistically defend a lot of 4s, except maybe the biggest of the bunch. He's probably better suited to guard 2.5-3.5 if you will.
I think with his strength Cedric Coward will end up as a legit power forward. I don’t think he projects as a guard nor would I want him guarding guards unless it’s on switches. He shows great ability to recover but you don’t want him recovering on every possession.
I really hope Spurs are ready to trade up (if possible) from 14 to secure Kon, Noa, Carter Bryant if they have to.
The chance the Spurs actually pick at 14 is small, this pick is going somewhere.
Can we trade Vassell for some picks?
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