Just one player so far has decided to come to Duke via the transfer portal this offseason. That player is former Washington State wing Cedric Coward, who recently committed to Duke after taking an official visit.
Coward is a major get for head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils, but his commitment comes with a caveat. Alongside entering the transfer portal this offseason, he also entered his name in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Coward committed to Duke as a transfer player, but he's still looking at his options as far as the NBA is concerned. In that sense, Duke has no guarantees just yet that he'll be on the roster next season. He also has no timeline as to when that decision will come despite the fact that he just committed to the Blue Devils.
“There’s no set timetable on when the decision is going to be made but, as I gain more information, as I talk to the people close, close to me and that have the information in order for me to make that decision, and as I talk more to Coach Scheyer and the staff, we’ll come to a decision on what’s best for me," Coward told "The Field of 68" (h/t On3).
The draft is on June 25, so something is going to have to give here in the next two months. Coward relayed that he wants to make an informed decision, but he seemed rather pleased that Scheyer and the Blue Devils are giving him a chance to let it play out. That likely played a role in his decision to transfer to Duke.
"Something with Coach Scheyer and the staff that really, I really respected is that they respected my choices in terms of, like, still going along with this,” Coward explained.
If Coward stays at Duke, he'll likely be one of the top players in the nation. As a junior at WSU last season, he averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Notably, ESPN ranks Coward as the 52nd best prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft. One would imagine a great year at Duke in 2025 could help raise his profile, but it remains to be seen what he decides to do.
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Four Raiders remain from the Oakland days of the franchise. The longest-tenured of those four players is now set to stick around in Las Vegas for a few more years, at least. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders are extending left tackle Kolton Miller on a three-year, $66M agreement. The new deal includes $42.5M of guaranteed money. It’s no surprise that Miller is getting a new deal. We knew back in April that he was seeking a new deal as he skipped the team’s voluntary offseason program. Miller was entering the 2025 NFL season on the final year of the three-year, $54M extension he had signed in 2021 to move on from his rookie deal. This time around, he’s received a $4M-per-year raise. There were thoughts that the Raiders might be looking to draft his replacement with options like Armand Membou and Kelvin Banks Jr. in range at No. 6 overall, but the team opted instead for a pair of third-round, developmental linemen in Texas Tech’s Caleb Rogers and William Mary’s Charles Grant. Following the draft, Miller returned to team activities as the Raiders seemingly started to play ball. Miller had made it clear that he wanted to retire a Raider, it was just unclear whether or not the team was going to meet him there. Miller has been a full-time starting blindside blocker for the Raiders since they selected him 15th overall in 2018 out of UCLA. Out of a possible 116 games, Miller has been on the field for all but seven of them. It took a couple of years for his massive 6-foot-8, 325-pound frame to find his mojo in the NFL, but he improved year after year. Vegas opted to extend him before they even needed to make a decision on his fifth-year option, giving him an impressive — though not boundary-pushing — deal that would make him the fifth-highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL at the time. Miller rewarded their faith in him with the best season of his career, in which Pro Football Focus (subscription required) would grade him as the fifth-best offensive tackle in the league out of 83 players graded at the position, commensurate with his salary. Though he hasn’t graded that high in the three years since, rankings of sixth in 2022, 11th in 2023, and 13th last year show that, time and again, Miller is up there with the best bookends in the NFL. Miller’s new deal is, once again, impressive while not encroaching on the league’s highest-paid tackles, who are creeping up slowly on $30M per year. His $22M-per-year average ties him as the 11th-highest-paid tackle with Jordan Mailata and Zach Tom. The three-year term of the deal is short of those we’ve seen for young stars like Rashawn Slater (four years) and Tristan Wirfs (five years), but the contract length is well in line with players closer to his 29 years of age. Laremy Tunsil (28), Dion Dawkins (29), Ronnie Stanley (30), and Taylor Decker (30) all signed three-year deals of their own in the last two years. While kicker Daniel Carlson shared a rookie year in Oakland with Miller, he didn’t join the team until Week 3 after the team that drafted him (Vikings) waived him two weeks into the season. Having worn a Raiders jersey longer than any other player in the locker room, as a result, Miller’s tenure has been extended through the 2028 season. It’s still to be determined whether or not he’ll spend his entire career in silver and black, as he desires, but today’s deal goes a long way in helping him towards that goal.
The Philadelphia Phillies struck a deal to land a big bullpen arm in Jhoan Duran on Wednesday night, not only boosting their own relief corps but also putting more pressure on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both the Dodgers and Phillies had been linked to Duran, a right-hander who posted 12 saves along with a 2.01 ERA so far this season. However, it was Philadelphia that struck the pre-trade-deadline deal, bringing the 27-year-old on board in exchange for a pair of the franchise's top 10 prospects. Now the next move belongs to Los Angeles. Both the Phillies and Dodgers are expected to be among the teams competing for the National League title in October, but Los Angeles is in desperate need to reinforce its bullpen before that happens. Dodger relievers Tanner Scott, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol have all spent time on the injured list this year, and the Los Angeles bullpen has suffered with their absences. Entering Wednesday's action, Dodgers relievers had posted a minus-3.4 Wins Above Average (WAA), placing Los Angeles 25th among MLB's 30 teams in that category. Additionally, Dodgers starters have thrown just 493.1 innings this year. That's the lowest number in MLB and makes Los Angeles the only MLB team to have their starters not cross the 500-inning threshold. With L.A. starters not going deep into the game and current Dodger relievers struggling with health and performance when called upon, it's clear that Duran would have been a big piece for the Dodgers to add to their personnel puzzle. With Duran heading to Philadelphia and Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase off the trading block after being the subject of an MLB investigation, the number of true impact relievers is dwindling ahead of Thursday's 6 p.m. (Eastern) MLB trade deadline. Minnesota's Griffin Jax is still a possibility, as is David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, the clock is ticking on the Dodgers to make a move ... and it will likely be a costly one in terms of prospects. In the wake of the Phillies claiming arguably the biggest bullpen prize of the trade deadline, Los Angeles can't afford to wait.
The San Francisco Giants were reportedly willing to listen to offers for their relief pitching. The first domino fell on Wednesday afternoon. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Giants traded reliever Tyler Rogers to the Mets. In exchange, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Mets sent pitchers Jose Butto and Blade Tidwell, along with outfield prospect Drew Gilbert, to San Francisco. Rogers has been a durable reliever throughout his career, leading the league in appearances three times. He has pitched in a major league-high 53 games this season, posting a 1.80 ERA and a 0.860 WHiP over 50 innings, striking out 38 batters with four walks. Rogers will instantly slot into the late-inning mix, strengthening the Mets' bridge to closer Edwin Diaz. New York paid a steep price for two to three months of Rogers. Tidwell, the Mets' 10th-best prospect per MLB.com, has a five pitch mix highlighted by a plus slider and a fastball that has been clocked as high as 98 mph. He has struggled in his brief time in the majors this season, posting a 9.00 ERA and a 2.200 WHiP over 15 innings, striking out 10 batters with 10 walks. However, Tidwell had a strong showing in Triple-A, posting a respectable 4.10 ERA and a 1.291 WHiP over 79 innings in Syracuse, striking out 87 batters with 32 walks. Gilbert, the Mets' 12th ranked prospect, has battled injuries throughout his career. A consensus top 100 prospect ahead of the 2024 season, Gilbert's stock has fallen as his production cratered last season as injuries piled up. He is still regarded as having a strong command of the strike zone with solid contact and speed skills, but is a question mark due to his struggles to stay healthy. Butto has the most major league experience of any of the trio heading to San Francisco. After shuttling between the rotation and bullpen in 2024, he had settled in as a solid middle reliever for the Mets. This season, Butto has posted a 3.64 ERA and a 1.383 WHiP in 47 innings, striking out 41 batters with 22 walks. Butto and Tidwell should fare well with the Giants as Oracle Park is an extreme pitcher's park. Gilbert now has a path to the majors as outfielder Juan Soto had blocked his ascension in the Mets system. This trade may be one where the Giants receive several key pieces for a future contending team.
If the Green Bay Packers are to go places in the 2025 NFL season, it would very likely be with star quarterback Jordan Love playing his role excellently under center. The Packers need him to be in top form, and if he’s to put together a remarkable campaign in his third year as the team’s regular starter, it would also mean his weapons downfield stepping up to make more things happen in the passing attack. To that end, Packers rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden is someone many believe is capable of shining as part of Love’s set of targets. Love acknowledges Green Bay Packers rookie’s social media post On Wednesday, Golden shared a deeply reflective social media post on Instagram. “Long as I’m putting 1 foot in front the other , I’m heading right where God want me #brickbybrick”,” the former Texas Longhorns star wide receiver wrote. That was a caption for a series of photos, including one showing a black-and-white image of Golden and Love with their backs on the camera while standing side by side during training camp. Love later shared that post via Instagram story. It seems that Love and Golden are getting along just fine, and that’s important for the Packers as a whole, considering how significant the chemistry between the quarterback and his receivers plays in the success of a team’s offense.
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