I went back and forth with my reaction to this. I respect the fact that he didn't value someone that didn't want to work out for us but at the same time it felt like kind of an inexperienced move.
Willie Cauley-Stein is your newest Sacramento King
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I went back and forth with my reaction to this. I respect the fact that he didn't value someone that didn't want to work out for us but at the same time it felt like kind of an inexperienced move.
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
No he told agents that if you play games with us you will get frozen out.
Or he told agents if you don't want to play in sac, don't work out there. A dangerous place for our dysfunctional franchise to be.
Guys refuse to work out for a variety of reasons. Refusing to pick a guy that won't work out can be a little limiting.
And what if WCS becomes a more athletic Tyson Chandler and Mudiay flames out like a lot of athletic guards in this league?
I'm with you on a lot of basketball decisions, but you're just flat out in left-field here. WCS, Winslow and Mudiay all would have been good picks for us. WCS fills one of the biggest needs and has the highest floor of all three.
Nobody had Mudiay as a #1 pick. Maybe before the season started at some point, but Mudiay for a long time now has been seeded behind Russell and easily behind Okafor and Towns. 4-7 was his draft range, and that's where he went.
K
Kingsguy881
Guest
The one player who translates into the most wins from today going forward for the Kings, they drafted. Nothing else to see here.
lawlman91
Starter
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Agreed. Mudiay just turned 19 in March. No way he comes into NBA after stellar H.S. career in Dallas but less than 15 games played pro in China. Meanwhile WCS had 3 years at University of Kentucky surrounded on teams with some of the top pro prospects each year playing in Coach Cal's pro-like setting. WCS is more NBA ready by far, taking nothing away from Mudiay but his was clearly more unknown wait and see risk.
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
Well Mudiay's agent may have cost his client $238,300.00 and put him in a line up behind Lawson instead of Collison so I guess he showed us. We should all live in fear of Fegan and his ilk!
rhythmless
Starter
Your strengths are your weaknesses. Vlade's strength is that he's honest and comes from the heart. He's grounded. With that comes some limitations. But at this point with such turmoil, with DMC as your possible ticket to the ball, you have to come away with something. And WCS is probably the safest ticket. He also fits us pretty well. Mudiay coudl blwo up huge. He's got the athleticism. But what if he turns into a guy who can't play with cuz, then alienates DMC. DMC asks for a trade. We're now back to square one.
Vlade does what he knows. He won't sell you on something he isn't sure on. Right now, I think that's the most important thing.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
That's not at all what he said. You're reaching and connecting dots that aren't there.
Since Mudiay refused to workout, they had to go strictly on the video they had and word of mouth of scouts and Vlade didn't feel as convinced about him based solely on that info and felt better about WCS whom did workout for them and had a better resume.
The only thing he admitted is that this isn't an exact science and Mudiay could very well end up being a premier player, but he didn't feel safe going with such an unknown over a more well known commodity that that just so happened to fill a pressing need, has a great attitude and was willing to showcase himself in person. I couldn't agree more.
Didn't the Kings draft a player that refused to workout for them a couple of years ago in Thomas Robinson?And there was a ton more info and footage on him than Mudiay. That one didn't work out so well, did it?
Hindsight is always 20/20. If Mudiay becomes a great player and WCS doesn't - I still feel the correct decision was made considering all factors. As of today, WCS is a stronger bet to be the more impactful player for this team and in a shorter timeframe.
lawlman91
Starter
Request for someone to edit this image with WCS and MoeLand please! Thanks in advance!
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Willie Cauley-Stein is the best individual defender in the entire draft. I have lusted after him for almost three years now, and I'm now a happy man. How well Mudiay or Winslow or any other player still available turns out is irrelevant. How he improves our team is what is important. Cousins life just got easier on the defensive side of the ball. I've never seen a big man that defends the pick and roll like WCS. This is a great pick that fills a great need. I'm happy tonight!
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
We got a lot bigger problems to worry about for one thing.
Also, WCS is a great fit for this team and something we have needed for a long time, also this pick could help in fixing the relationship between the team and DMC, so that's a good thing too. And as many others have already said, Mudiay is an unknown, therefor Vlade didn't feel comfortable with him as the pick.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
You touch on the most important factor .... what's the best fit for THIS team. The skills that WCS possess can help this team more than anything Mudiay will be able to do in the foreseeable future. The Kings need start winning ASAP, not 3 or 4 years from now. Besides, for all we know, Mudiay may not be any better than Tyreke Evans was and this team wasn't a winner when he played with Boogie. Time to go another direction.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
I'm not sure if this has been posted, but I stumbled across an article written by WCS himself. It was published on 6/22 and is well worth the read.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/willie-cauley-stein-2015-nba-draft-episode-1/
Here's a snippet:
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/willie-cauley-stein-2015-nba-draft-episode-1/
Here's a snippet:
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
As I noted previously with Mudiay though, with such a limited body of work, he was precisely the guy you almost needed to see in person in order to feel comfortable. He was practically a straight form high schooler.
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
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The Hammer
All-Star
That's a great concept for a website btw.
K
KingMilz
Guest
Since the draft I have been watching some stuff of WCS and he seems like a guy who will be easier to cheer for with his energy. He reminded me a bit of a MUCH MORE athletic (more versatile defender obviously) Robin Lopez with the energy/hair and size. Lopez has developed a decent mid range (from about the foul line) jumper which hopefully WCS can as well.
Iced Espresso
Starter
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
Sac.1989
Starter
When does SL start!?
Chicken Chaser
Bench
Orlando: July 4-10
Utah: July 6-9
Las Vegas: July 10-20 (Championship Tournament at end)
KingsFanGER
Starter
I just hope Willie will not be another player like Whiteside. He needs to develop an offensive game asap, if we want to put him next to DMC. After the Vlade interview I expect WCS to come off the bench, while Rudy plays lots of stretch-4.
K
KingMilz
Guest
I see him playing the Javale role (assuming Karl is coach)
Dime Dropper
All-Star
These videos are definitely worth watching for anyone hasn't yet. Good insight into his personality. His self-awareness is impressive.
Dime Dropper
All-Star
Whiteside's problem was IQ. His offense is still based on dunks. WCS doesn't have an IQ problem and although he's not as strong as Hassan, he's a much better athlete overall.
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