Cedric Coward says Memphis should expect to control the glass with Zach Edey and Cameron Boozer, especially when creating second chances.
Every basketball should be theirs, Cedric Coward said Monday of a Memphis Grizzlies frontcourt that could pair him with Zach Edey and Cameron Boozer, especially on the offensive glass.
His comments came during Monday's media sessions inside FedExForum. The team leaves for camp at Belmont University in Nashville on Tuesday.
Edey played 11 games last season. He had two surgeries on his left ankle, and Memphis went 7-4 in the games he did play.
Ty Jerome made it about four minutes into the Oct. 17 preseason finale in Miami before he strained his right calf. He missed the first half of the season and appeared in 15 games, a year after finishing as a Sixth Man of the Year finalist in Cleveland. Boozer came in June with the third pick.
Coward Sees Advantages Across Grizzlies Lineup
Coward has watched Boozer rebound in workouts and in Summer League, and nothing has changed from college. He also sees Edey and Jerome creating different advantages around him offensively.
"They're all three special players," Coward said. "Ty, the gravity he provides when he's on offense and when we're on offense. Same thing with Zach and same thing with Booz. Y'all see what they did last year. Obviously, Ty was efficient off the charts. Zach, [we] were one of the best teams in the league when Zach was playing. And obviously, you have the best player in college basketball last year as an 18-year-old on our team now."
"So all those advantages I can use, for me as an individual, it's going to help me get open, and it's also going to help me when I get doubled or if I have certain guys guarding me, to get off the ball, because now we have advantages everywhere," Coward continued. "It helps when you have a dude that's 6-9, 6-6, 6-8, 6-5, and 7-4 all on this floor together. And I know our goal, especially with Booz and Edey, is get every rebound, give ourselves second possessions, and limit them to one possession."
Edey Gives Memphis Proven Rebounding Presence
Over his 11 games, the 7-foot-4 Edey put up 13.6 points and 11.1 rebounds a night in 25.8 minutes, with 1.9 blocks.
He pulled down 19 rebounds in a 112-107 win on Nov. 28, then had 32 points and 17 rebounds two nights later. As a rookie in 2024-25, he made the All-Rookie First Team and placed fifth in Rookie of the Year balloting.
Edey is cleared for full-speed, full-court work, per general manager Zach Kleiman, who has not ruled him out of the preseason.
Among qualified rookies last season, only three averaged more rebounds than Coward's 5.9. His seven double-doubles tied for fourth in the class, and his best night on the glass was 16 rebounds in December.
In the Las Vegas opener against Chicago on July 10, he went for 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Boozer Adds Another Elite Rebounder
Boozer averaged 10.2 rebounds at Duke and tied for the national lead with 22 double-doubles. He was the Associated Press men's national player of the year at 18.
Through six games in Las Vegas in July, he averaged 8.0 rebounds, including 12 in the semifinal win over Houston.
The goal with Boozer and Edey, as Coward put it, is to hold opponents to one possession.
"Yeah, we should be," Coward said. "I think that's a goal we should set out to make sure every basketball is ours, especially on the offensive end, gaining those extra possessions. You see how special of a rebounder Zach is already. I think I'm a pretty special rebounder myself. And then obviously you had Cam, who averaged a 20-point double-double in college."
"And from what I'm seeing in workouts and playing with him in Summer League and stuff, it's no different," Coward added. "And so that should be our mentality, 'cause honestly, half of the battle of rebounding is just [wanting] the ball more than everybody else."
Grizzlies Have More Size Around Young Core
Coward and Boozer shared the floor in all six Las Vegas games. Memphis won four of them before Golden State took the title game 94-90 on July 19.
When the All-Summer League teams came out three days later, Boozer was on the first team and Coward on the second.
Isaiah Stewart, a 6-foot-8 center, came over from Detroit this offseason, and Jerami Grant arrived from Portland in the Ja Morant trade. Last season ended at 25-57.
Memphis plays at Atlanta on Oct. 5 to open the preseason, then hosts Utah on Oct. 21 in the regular-season opener.
