Sacramento Kings Tick One Box With Willie Cauley-Stein

For an organization who has shown instability and unpredictability over the last several [any plural unit of time], the Sacramento Kings went with conventional wisdom and chose Kentucky forward Willie Trill Cauley-Stein in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.

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The first few picks in the draft gave a different arc to certain teams’ narratives, with the Los Angeles Lakers taking Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell and the New York Knicks selecting Latvian man of mystery Kristaps Porzingis. Though there had been some conjecture about the Kings taking a point guard like Emmanuel Mudiay, the team chose to go with a known quantity whose specialty serves a distinct and immediate need.

Cauley-Stein was a part of Kentucky’s brilliant platoon system run under head coach John Calipari this past season, and the seven foot-tall junior established himself by the time of the NCAA tournament as one of the best defensive players in college ball. His perimeter agility, straight-line speed, and tenacity in disrupting the flow of an opposing offense made him someone who was a clear building block for a number of lottery teams who were in the same leakiness realm as the Kings.

Though he is an elite defender, questions have come up regarding Cauley-Stein’s offensive skills. Over his three years at Kentucky, he never reach a scoring average of nine points per game, with his 2014-2015 per-game contribution being a career-high 8.9. Some see that, as well as his lack of shooting finesse, as a liability or at least a void in the Kansas native’s game.

The system in which we have seen Cauley-Stein perform molds his analytics, however. Calipari’s rhythm often sees players on the court for one half of a game. Indeed, Cauley-Stein put in an average of 25.9 minutes per game last season. In that chunk of time, he was grabbing 6.4 rebounds and shutting down scorers with 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. Though this is — in my opinion — a generous calculation, looking at Cauley-Stein’s per-4o-minute projections gives a clearer idea of his near-future ceiling. Double-doubles alongside DeMarcus Cousins (who, as I hit these keys, is still a King) are entirely possible should he find a working tempo quickly in the next couple years.

One area which head coach George Karl (who, as I hit these keys, is still with the team) and his staff will have to work on is pumping up Willie’s assist rates. This could be an easier shift than one might assume if Karl’s “random basketball” style syncs well with a versatile player like Cauley-Stein and a dominant center like Cousins. Cousins and Cauley-Stein can’t simply be a dynamic duo and deliver the Kings to the playoff by themselves, but Cousins having a vigorous partner in the frontcourt will allow both men to play a less burdensome style.

At this point, the Kings will need to finneagle some talent at into the backcourt to keep Cousins from being the one and only savior for the team, and Cauley-Stein from being another muted draftee whose spotlight doesn’t shine in Sacramento.

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