NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2019-20 Most Improved Player

Willie Cauley-Stein got his wish when the Sacramento Kings renounced their free-agent exception rights and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Coming off his first contract, Cauley-Stein didn’t make the big pay day players are seeking with their second deal, settling for a two-year, $4.46 million deal with a player option in 2020-21 to join the reworked Golden State Warriors.

Cauley-Stein came out of the University of Kentucky after one season and was the sixth overall pick by the Kings in the 2015 NBA Draft.

After trending generally upwards over his first three seasons and becoming the full-time starter at the center spot after DeMarcus Cousins was traded away in February 2017, Cauley-Stein regressed offensively a bit last season.

He played a career-high 81 games, starting all of them, and put up 11.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 27.3 minutes per game while shooting a 55.6 percent overall.

But his scoring per 36 minutes took a slide from 16.4 points to 15.7, while his free throw percentage plummeted from a marginally acceptable 61.9 percent to a less-than-optimal 55.1 percent.

There were trade-offs defensively as well. His 1.6 steals per 36 minutes was the best rate of his career. The 0.8 blocks per 36 minutes was the worst rate of his career, down drastically from 1.7 as a rookie.

Playing in a system with the Warriors where he will be looked at to be a solid roll man with defenses much more worried about Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell on the perimeter, Cauley-Stein could flourish.

He shot 71.4 percent in the restricted area last season, where he took nearly 60 percent of his attempts. The question will be whether defenses will have to honor Cauley-Stein anywhere else on the floor.

He shot a career-worst 31.0 percent on shots of three to 10 feet and just 35.4 percent from mid-range and 35.3 percent from deep mid-range (those latter areas accounting for 13.4 percent of his attempts).

Cauley-Stein isn’t a stretch threat, having gone 4-for-18 from 3-point range in four seasons, including 1-for-2 in 2018-19.

If Cauley-Stein can win the battle with Kevon Looney for playing time at the 5, he’s got a chance with a change of scenery to make a leap in 2019-20.

Golden State has had just one Most Improved Player winner, Monta Ellis in 2006-07.