Golden State Warriors: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20
By Alan Mena
1. Willie Cauley-Stein
The former sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft is set for a breakout season.
Willie Cauley-Stein just completed his fourth season with the Sacramento Kings, who were nine games behind the eighth seed.
In 81 appearances (a career-high) last season, Cauley-Stein averaged 11.9 points, 8.4 rebounds (career-high), 2.4 assists, 0.6 blocks, 1.6 steals (career-high), while shooting 55.6 overall and 55.1 at the free throw line in 27.1 minutes per game.
The 7-footer out of Kentucky has yet to add a 3-point shot to his repertoire, but is more than capable of hitting shots as far as 19 feet out, recording 22-of-65 from 14-19 feet away from the basket during the 2018-19 season.
From 10-19 feet out, Cauley-Stein was 33-for-99 (33 percent) during regular season).
Despite the fact that Cauley-Stein was the starting center he did have to compete with Harry Giles and Marvin Bagley III for minutes on the Kings.
So agreeing to sign with the Golden State Warriors was a no-brainer since he is guaranteed to be the starting center as an integral part of the offense moving forward.
Back in July, Cauley-Stein stated how excited he is to be a part of the Warriors organization, emphasizing how professional and transparent Steve Kerr was through the recruiting process.
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Furthermore, Cauley-Stein was so excited to become a Warrior that he agreed to take a pay cut due to Steve Kerr’s professionalism, offensive spacing, being the focal point of a pick-and-roll offense with Russell, role security, and championship contention.
On the Warriors, Cauley-Stein has the opportunity to play over 30 minutes a game (averages 24 minutes in his career) for the first time in his four-year career.
Cauley-Stein is only just 25 years old, averages over 10 points and six rebounds, and has shown durability throughout his four seasons in the NBA.