Kings extend QO to Willie Cauley-Stein
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I think my defending of Willie against assertions that he sucks, does not rebound, does not defend can hardly be characterized as me "so often declaring he is one of the better starting Cs, prized, and great."
Disingenuous exaggerations aside, I do believe Willie is no worse than our new 40 mil Center, and I believe he will show that with his production for the Warriors and will get paid for it.
Disingenuous exaggerations aside, I do believe Willie is no worse than our new 40 mil Center, and I believe he will show that with his production for the Warriors and will get paid for it.
I guess I was wrong the whole way on Willie. Not only is he not returning to the Kings, he isn’t even getting a good deal.
Well, at the very least we will see if Willie is going to fulfill his defensive potential now that he’s on a team that isn’t interested in letting him explore his offense and will want him exclusively for rim running and defense. Willie will likely have to respect that as well and fill a role. If he doesn’t do that this year he’ll be doomed to mid level contracts and likely being a journeyman.
Perhaps we would have never seen that with the Kings because anything less than getting 15 looks a game and being the starter would feel like a demotion to him. He saw the writing on the wall with Bagleys ascent and him not being the proper fit beside a Bagley, and knew that the Kings would demand rim running, rotational flexibility, and defense. The inner Kevin Durant will have to be stillborn. He may be willing to do that for somebody else but probably not willing to do it for the Kings. He’ll never get the opportunity to flaunt his entire game than he got with the team he suggested was limiting him
Well, at the very least we will see if Willie is going to fulfill his defensive potential now that he’s on a team that isn’t interested in letting him explore his offense and will want him exclusively for rim running and defense. Willie will likely have to respect that as well and fill a role. If he doesn’t do that this year he’ll be doomed to mid level contracts and likely being a journeyman.
Perhaps we would have never seen that with the Kings because anything less than getting 15 looks a game and being the starter would feel like a demotion to him. He saw the writing on the wall with Bagleys ascent and him not being the proper fit beside a Bagley, and knew that the Kings would demand rim running, rotational flexibility, and defense. The inner Kevin Durant will have to be stillborn. He may be willing to do that for somebody else but probably not willing to do it for the Kings. He’ll never get the opportunity to flaunt his entire game than he got with the team he suggested was limiting him
Yes unfortunately that's the curse of the league. On one hand, as the team that drafts a player you have an advantage if they are good and you want to resign them. On the other, for these project/potential cases you often end up bearing with them for 4 years, only for them to ultimately realise their potential only when they've moved to another team, had a wake up call etc.
I do think that this min contract must be a wake up call for Willie. He may very well go on to be the player we hoped and earn a big contract next year. Problem is no matter how you slice it, that just wasn't going to happen with us, even if you got him for the QO.
I do think that this min contract must be a wake up call for Willie. He may very well go on to be the player we hoped and earn a big contract next year. Problem is no matter how you slice it, that just wasn't going to happen with us, even if you got him for the QO.
no issue, the board is a whirlwind of content and I definitely am one of the (small number of) vocal Willie's supporters on this board. my defense of Willie usually consisted of pointing out the stats when rebounding and shooting was brought up, arguing that our poor perimeter defense and the necessary help is the real reason we had issues contesting at the rim, and generally arguing against the perception that he does not care about the team. I definitely did argue he will get paid this off-season which turned out to be wrong.
There is a little bit of tragedy in how this went down at the end because a week before his agent announced he wants to leave the Kings he was on NBC talking about how they came close to the playoffs this year and how he wanted to be a part of the team that finally does it for Sacramento.
There is a little bit of tragedy in how this went down at the end because a week before his agent announced he wants to leave the Kings he was on NBC talking about how they came close to the playoffs this year and how he wanted to be a part of the team that finally does it for Sacramento.
I've been on the fence with Stein, and its disappointing. When the home team drafts a guy, you hold out that he improves and stays on. I would've been just fine with the Kings bringing him back @ 6M offer. That he took such a low salary elsewhere has me wondering about the 3 parties: the Kings, his agent, and he.
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Oh well.. I am pissed that we didn't bring him back, but best of luck to WCS. I really did like his game, and I felt he was improving every year with us and was maybe a year or two away from being a top 10 center in the league. Oh well.
Yes, I am a WCS homer. I always liked the guy and wish we got something for him. Personally I think he's better than Dedmon. Dedmon proved he can be an 'average/a bit above avg' player on a bad team. All of the other years he played he was an end of the bench player. I hope we did the right thing and Dedmon comes in and impresses us!
Yes, I am a WCS homer. I always liked the guy and wish we got something for him. Personally I think he's better than Dedmon. Dedmon proved he can be an 'average/a bit above avg' player on a bad team. All of the other years he played he was an end of the bench player. I hope we did the right thing and Dedmon comes in and impresses us!
At some point there were breakdowns for Stein/Kings, and I dont know the whole story. I do know that Stein's a bargain if making in the $3-5M range/season even with his problems. And that's a mess-up by the Kings if all it would've taken was better communication and consolation; however it may be that Stein wanted lion's minutes, and coming off the bench was a no-go for him more than money. That's his choice, and it could be a lack of professionalism. Its speculative. And now history. Guess who'll be circling the calendar next year though?
No you're missing the point. It's not that Stein could have been had for 3-5M, he only can be had for that because he probably wasn't willing to take 7-8M with us to begin with. He thought he could get more and by the time we moved on from him the market wasn't going to give him that. By that point he has to be willing to take less and play whatever role.
Man, I feel kind of bad for Willie. The Warriors didn’t get a steal at that price, they’re taking a flier. I assume there is another potential shoe to drop on Willie, given the contract, but I’ll leave it that. The only thing I’m really mad at is his agent trying to blame Kings “dysfunction”, which Willie didn’t really have to deal with at all. He had the weird rookie year with Karl, but then Vlade nipped things in the bud and Willie has had a stable situation ever since.
Having said that, obviously the league didn’t buy it, whether or not the half-educated journalism majors in the national media did. Willie’s a good dude who is really tall/athletic and doesn’t love basketball. I hope he finds his calling.
Having said that, obviously the league didn’t buy it, whether or not the half-educated journalism majors in the national media did. Willie’s a good dude who is really tall/athletic and doesn’t love basketball. I hope he finds his calling.
So where is @Ozymandias ?
He gave me an earful when I said I would be willing to keep him on the roster for $4-6 mil as a backup C. Now he’s likely backing up Looney but on a vet min. Apparently, I was being too generous...
He gave me an earful when I said I would be willing to keep him on the roster for $4-6 mil as a backup C. Now he’s likely backing up Looney but on a vet min. Apparently, I was being too generous...
