Willie Cauley-Stein is your newest Sacramento King

#62
Another thing -- people need to consider who our chief opponents are, first in division and then in conference. The Warriors just won a title with 2 shooters that work a lot off the screen and roll. The Lakers just drafted DeAngelo Russell. The Clippers have Chris Paul, who does a ton of his work off the pick and roll.

We just drafted a kid whose strength is defending that play. We've got something not a lot of teams have at their disposal. A 7-footer with length, athleticism and mobility that LOVES to play defense. Perhaps Klay and Steph won't get as many open looks anymore. And if they beat their defender to the cup, we've got two bigs now that can recover and alter or block the shot. That's potentially a HUGE difference.

Lastly, with all these teams going small, I like that we can present a look most teams won't see yet not be at a complete disadvantage doing it.

Like I said, if they can acquire a knock down shooter off the bench, I like their chances at greatly improving.
 
#66
I'm running behind on my DVR but the panel were hating on the pick saying WCS offense wasn't worthy of the pick and he better be a great nba first team defender to justify the pick. And they were also saying that why would they build around boogie if he and Karl have friction? The better pick should had been winslow or that PG.
**** the analysts...really
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#68
Welcome WCS I am thrilled to have a defender of his caliber on the team now! No he was NOT the best guy on the board, yes guys picked after him will put up great numbers. BUT he looks to be a great fit who will bring out the best not just for DMC but for our guards on the perimeter as well. If this TEAM is going to take the next step forward WCS is the kind of guy we need!
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#69
It was Cauley Stein or Stanley Johnson for me all along, so I love this pick. While you usually want to draft high potential with the 6th pick...this pick was strictly for two purposes IMO. Change the culture and draft defense and two...FIT. He is a perfect fit for this team. The Kings can now lead the league in rebounding.
 
#70
WCS will be playing next to the best offensive center in the game since Shaq(shout out to Yao though) and a 20 ppg wing in Gay. We dont need him to be able to get buckets other than catch lobs(great hands) and the occasional 12-15 ft jumper(should develop that). He will literally be our Draymond Green, but instead of shooting 3's he will be dunking. Plus he is a gazelle on the fast break, imagine boogie gets a block or forces a bad shot and WCS sprints out on the break, wont be stopped.
 
#72
Love the pick, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the extent of his ankle injury last year and his sickle cell trait? I am no scientist, just wondering how it affects anything.
 
#78
What I love is that now Cousins can think so do I want to play next to Rudy and WCS or go to the Lakers and play with 40 year old Kobe and Jordan Hill.
 
#79
Wow, reading twitter, there are a lot of upset kings fans.. Smh
I am happy with the pick. May not be the most talented player, but he is certainly the most talented in what we need (defense). That is more than alright with me. If there weren't questions about his foot, I would be on cloud 9 right now. I hope that his foot is fine, I really want to see him develop properly.
 
#85
Must depend on who you follow/read. I'm seeing a LOT of very happy Kings fans.
I certainly wanted him here, would have been fine with Mario too.

We have selected the most defensive potential big in who knows in how many years out of the draft. A guy who by everyone's standards should be able to transition that talent to the NBA.

If someone cannot see how that can help, I'm not sure what else to say.
 
#86
Love the pick, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the extent of his ankle injury last year and his sickle cell trait? I am no scientist, just wondering how it affects anything.
Sickle cell is a genetic trait that causes your red blood cells to be produced with a change in shape. If both your mom and dad have it, you basically die because your red blood cells can't carry oxygen since they're shaped all weird (like a sickle). If you have one out of two genes with sickle cell, you will produce both normal doughnut shapes as well as sickle cell shapes, but I think the normal cells predominate. In normal activity you can't tell. When you are deprived of oxygen or dehydrated can cause clogging because these sickle cells can start to clump. Doughnuts can't

It affects his safety at the very extreme end of exhaustion. In normal fatiguable conditions it is ok. Something to monitor and he has medical staff on hand. He just has to watch his diet, his fluids, and how his body is responding. Not a big deal, but I wouldn't fly him to Denver for 2 a days with Thibodeau or anything.
 
#87
Was very solid against Griffin and a number of other top bigs last season
After WCS settles in, hopefully wont take too long, Thompson off the bench is real real solid too. So is Landry actually as well if we can get someone to knock down shots off the bench. WCS just in theory took our Landry/Thompson woe with cap space and may have made them out to be great compliments.

We need the reliable shooter off the bench now. Ideally it is Nik.

I'm very happy. We should all give WCS 20 games or so at least before we expect him to start, but who knows maybe he steps right in there.
 
#89
Your hate is showing. Thompson is one of the better low-post defenders in the league. He can't defend the perimeter or the pick and roll worth a damn, but he's a very good strong side post defender.
So he can't defend the P&R and isn't much of a shot blocker but he is a VERY good defender huh. JT isn't VERY good at anything on the court and I'm not hating I'm just being honest.
 
#90
The way I see it, we were sitting pretty with Mudiay, Winslow and WCS all sitting there at 6.

What WCS does for us is give us a known asset going into next season. We know he's going to improve the defense. We know he's going to block shots. We know he'll instantly become our best help-defender.

It's a matter of perspective. Do we care about stats or the guy who makes us better and increases wins. WCS might only average 6-5-1.5 on 50% shooting next season, but I think were much better suited to win 40+ games next year than with Mudiay or Winslow. And WCS will be a big part of that.