Willie Cauley-Stein: the 2018-19 Season watch

Who would you guys realistically trade Willie for? If we traded him, it means we still have a C hole. I don't think that's something Bagley can fill up because I think he's better as a PF.

Here would be my list of straight up swaps that I think both sides could potentially agree to:
  1. Jaylen Brown
  2. Taurean Prince
  3. Andrew Wiggins
  4. Robert Covington
  5. Nicholas Batum(older, but would be perfect)
  6. Frank Ntilikina

The only two that wouldn't be laughed at would be Batum and Ntilikina. Brown wasn't moved for Kawhi... C'mon man. Again my dream is that Washington hates the Porter contract and would do him for WCS, filler and a second round pick or two.
 
Look at all the centers in the league playing willies minutes.. He averages THE LEAST turnovers of anyone. How's that misleading? It's a ****ing feather in his cap that y'all don't wanna admit is there, is what it really is..
Here is the data to prove your point.

https://stats.nba.com/players/paint...19&SeasonType=Regular Season&PlayerPosition=C

Giles is high on TOV, but I want him high because Giles is an elite passer and he needs to get a sense of what will and won’t work in this league. WCS is very low on TOV. Some of that is however because he doesn’t attempt passes he should. WCS is poor at kicking the ball out to open shooters after paint touches.
 
Here is the data to prove your point.

https://stats.nba.com/players/paint-touch/?sort=PAINT_TOUCH_TOV_PCT&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season&PlayerPosition=C

Giles is high on TOV, but I want him high because Giles is an elite passer and he needs to get a sense of what will and won’t work in this league. WCS is very low on TOV. Some of that is however because he doesn’t attempt passes he should. WCS is poor at kicking the ball out to open shooters after paint touches.
Are you saying context matters? ;)
 
Props to Leo from CBK he is doing a good job with the site.
I think his view was a little biased but generally accurate that being small on the wing in our 3 guard line-up of Fox, Buddy and Shumpert is causing a lot of our rebounding problems. Buddy Hield is 6’ 4” which is small for a 2 Guard. Then you add Shumpert at 6’ 5” you just lack length. Since both are around 215 they aren’t super heavy either. DaArron at 6’3” has good length but is among the lightest players in the NBA at 175. Justin Jackson at 210 could also add 20 lbs of muscle.

If Shumpert is hitting his 3’s it’s compensated for a bit but Shumpert has been in a bit of a slump.
 
Props to Leo from CBK he is doing a good job with the site.
Leo has a video clip in here that shows my point.

Willie has the ball in the paint and both Jokic and Plumlee are in the paint between WCS and the basket. Shumpert is standing alone at the 3 point line with no defender within 10 ft. Instead of kicking the ball out to Shumpert, WCS forces the drive and in this case travels but often similarly he forces a low percentage shot.
 
I think part of the problem is WCS isn’t a great fit at center with a three guard line-up. He doesn’t have the hands to have a great rebounding radius and he doesn’t see the floor to kick the ball out to open shooters at the 3 point line.

Compare Harry.
Handwidth 10.75. Reach 7’3.5”. Giles
Handwidth. 9.00. Reach 7’3”. WCS

Harry has a much larger rebounding radius. Dude snatched the ball 1 handed like a water polo player and passes like Jokic. I know Harry has some issues but in reality he would be a much better fit with that line-up.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
I think part of the problem is WCS isn’t a great fit at center with a three guard line-up. He doesn’t have the hands to have a great rebounding radius and he doesn’t see the floor to kick the ball out to open shooters at the 3 point line.

Compare Harry.
Handwidth 10.75. Reach 7’3.5”. Giles
Handwidth. 9.00. Reach 7’3”. WCS

Harry has a much larger rebounding radius. Dude snatched the ball 1 handed like a water polo player and passes like Jokic. I know Harry has some issues but in reality he would be a much better fit with that line-up.
That's who he reminded me of. Perfect analogy!
 
I think his view was a little biased but generally accurate that being small on the wing in our 3 guard line-up of Fox, Buddy and Shumpert is causing a lot of our rebounding problems. Buddy Hield is 6’ 4” which is small for a 2 Guard. Then you add Shumpert at 6’ 5” you just lack length. Since both are around 215 they aren’t super heavy either. DaArron at 6’3” has good length but is among the lightest players in the NBA at 175. Justin Jackson at 210 could also add 20 lbs of muscle.

If Shumpert is hitting his 3’s it’s compensated for a bit but Shumpert has been in a bit of a slump.
Leo Beas did not say anything about guards being small. He said the guards did not communicate enough and were not in the right positions defensively. Fox and Bjelica had multiple instances of not boxing out.
WCS has a 91% def box out rate which is very good. If every one boxes out their man, the ball should come back to the defending team. Looks like someone is not doing their jobs. And as Leo pointed out, they are Fox, Buddy and Bjelica.
 
Leo Beas did not say anything about guards being small. He said the guards did not communicate enough and were not in the right positions defensively. Fox and Bjelica had multiple instances of not boxing out.
WCS has a 91% def box out rate which is very good. If every one boxes out their man, the ball should come back to the defending team. Looks like someone is not doing their jobs. And as Leo pointed out, they are Fox, Buddy and Bjelica.
Buddy tried to box out on one and got thrown aside. Bjelica boxes out quite regularly. Yes we need more guard communication but the real problem is lack of size on the wing.
 
Willie lazy-stein WAS good or lobs, but teams took that away, so he's useless now.

He cost us the Denvet game with three consecutive (horribly bad) offensive possessions. His midrange is horrible.

Fox is future pg
Buddy is future sg
Bogi sf
Giles is pf

Its easy to see why we went bagley. Willie is just not part of our core/future plans.
 
Lol wcs is getting dumber by the game.
He cost us the Denvet game with three consecutive (horribly bad) offensive possessions. His midrange is horrible.
Very little self awareness. Thinks he can take people off the dribble when they sag 7 feet off him. Then thinks a contested 15 footer may work. Cuz you know, he's so money Stein from the charity stripe usually...
 
Well, I initially wanted to trade him. Not because I didn't like him. I just thought he had good trade value. But he's now being woven in as a part of this team's identity. If Bagley is going to play the 4 more often than not, then it makes sense to keep WCS. Moving WCS would change how this team functions. Kings could eventually adjust, but why fix something that's not broke.

Willie isn't perfect or a complete player, but not many are. He plays a role that fits in perfectly with what Fox and Bogi like to do.
I would like it if he could be part of our future, since we have invested so much time in him. But he's not part of a future to which we aspire. For all the back and forth we have had in regards to him, he's not good enough. It is that simple. Giles is 5 years younger. MB3 is 6 years younger and both show ability Willie has not approached. I would rather it not be so. If we could trade Willie in package for Otto we would do it yesterday. Same goes for Jackson. But non-bias observers and other GMs see what overly bias fans do not. The negatives outweigh the positives. A net negative player is not someone you build around or trade for if you have your wits about you. It is also ridiculous to assert he is "perfect" with what Fox and Bogs like to do. He is not perfect. He is extremely flawed. His good games are the anomaly. His bad games are the norm. To get it reversed is to live in fantasyland.
 
let's do a trade involving Willie and maybe one filler for Julius Randle who is on a two year contract which is absurd considering the production he brings
Why would the Pelicans do this? And we ruled out Julius Randle last year when he we committed to MB3. The free agent we should have pursued over the summer was Capella, who I was shouting to the Moon for us to pursue during his contract dispute with the Rockets. We lost out on LaVine then sat quiet. Vlade allowed sentimentality to get the best of him, his allegiance to his first draft pick. If we gave Capella 100M, more than which he settled for, and traded away Willie in the process, we would currently be a Top 4 team in the West. I have no doubt.
 
I think his view was a little biased but generally accurate that being small on the wing in our 3 guard line-up of Fox, Buddy and Shumpert is causing a lot of our rebounding problems. Buddy Hield is 6’ 4” which is small for a 2 Guard. Then you add Shumpert at 6’ 5” you just lack length. Since both are around 215 they aren’t super heavy either. DaArron at 6’3” has good length but is among the lightest players in the NBA at 175. Justin Jackson at 210 could also add 20 lbs of muscle.

If Shumpert is hitting his 3’s it’s compensated for a bit but Shumpert has been in a bit of a slump.
http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/rebounds/sort/avgRebounds/position/shooting-guards

Buddy is actually one of the best rebounding shooting guards in the league.

Bogdan, JJ and Shumpert are all below average for small forward. Fox is also below average for a PG.

Troy Williams has been our only adequate rebounding SF.
 
Harrell is also making 6-8 million per season while WCS is asking for a $100+ mil
What is he asking for is irrelevant. I am asking for Katrina Law aka Mira from Spartacus show that does not make it so. :p The contract granted will be based on evidence facts and reason not head-in-the-clouds wishes from a wannabe. He wants more than Capella when he is less than half the player ??? Capella got 4/75M. Willie is also worse than Nurkic who got 4/48. No one is paying Willie what he wants. If Nurkic is worth 12M per year Willie is worth 6-8M per year at best. Personally I do not want him at any cost. He takes up cap space of players with actual value aka Bogs, Buddy, D-Fox and free agents yet to be acquired. If Vlade resigns Willie he is a fool. I think (hope) he will be smarter than a fool.
 
Props to Leo from CBK he is doing a good job with the site.
I want to like this kid because he has passion as a Kings fan but he spouts a lot of nonsense. Leo said Jaren Jackson and Wendell Carter would be better than Bagley. I think there is a basis with regard to JJJ but saying Carter over MB3 is bullcrap. There is no basis for Carter over MB3 other than wanting Luka to be the pick, which was his stance, subsequently trashing the guy we took. Leo was an unapologetic Luka Fanboy. It could be JJJ turns out better than MB3. Both show awesome potential. But Carter is not at their level and to say otherwise discredits you. Carter is a capable plodder. MB3 is 20/10 waiting to happen. The difference is obvious.
 
http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/rebounds/sort/avgRebounds/position/shooting-guards

Buddy is actually one of the best rebounding shooting guards in the league.

Bogdan, JJ and Shumpert are all below average for small forward. Fox is also below average for a PG.

Troy Williams has been our only adequate rebounding SF.
Yeah Buddy isn’t bad when matched up with a shooting guard. Less so when trying to box out a 6’9” small forward. Bogdan and Shumpert are out of position at SF. Bogdan is an ideal combo guard.

We could really use Tobias Harris. I hope we throw the bank at him while the Clippers chase everyone else.
 
I think that Vlade saw the need to get a very good big as with Cousins their was not a very good backup. Then we take WCS and he had that WOW factor with his speed and jumping ability. But after what like 4 years that’s all he still has.
I wondered why we kept picking up bigs like Papa if we had our centers of the future?

When we took Giles it was more of rolling the dice and taking that chance he would recover and be healthy. Kosta was never going to be more than a backup.
We had holes at small forward and power forward and last off season with Beli and Bagley we took care of power forward.

KK has slowed and has missed games with small injuries I believe are not going to get better going forward.

What I find interesting is there was all the talk of the center position was not what it was in the past and here we find ourselves needing to find help at that position.

Unfortunately WCS seems to be one of our only options at center as we need a small forward sooner.
 
I think part of the problem is WCS isn’t a great fit at center with a three guard line-up. He doesn’t have the hands to have a great rebounding radius and he doesn’t see the floor to kick the ball out to open shooters at the 3 point line.

Compare Harry.
Handwidth 10.75. Reach 7’3.5”. Giles
Handwidth. 9.00. Reach 7’3”. WCS

Harry has a much larger rebounding radius. Dude snatched the ball 1 handed like a water polo player and passes like Jokic. I know Harry has some issues but in reality he would be a much better fit with that line-up.
I've seen this bolded part repeated ad nauseam aroundhere and it's just not true. While Harry has great vision and could one day be a 4+ assist per game guy, he is absolutely NOT the passer Jokic is. People are getting carried away. Jokic is arguably the best passing big men we have seen in the last 20+ years, he's incredible. People need to stop with the unrealistic expectations. I know Harry is young, but Jokic is only 23 himself. Harry is never going to reach his level when it comes to passing and that's not a knock on him.
 
I've seen this bolded part repeated ad nauseam aroundhere and it's just not true. While Harry has great vision and could one day be a 4+ assist per game guy, he is absolutely NOT the passer Jokic is. People are getting carried away. Jokic is arguably the best passing big men we have seen in the last 20+ years, he's incredible. People need to stop with the unrealistic expectations. I know Harry is young, but Jokic is only 23 himself. Harry is never going to reach his level when it comes to passing and that's not a knock on him.
Never is a strong word and given Harry hasn’t played in 3+ years while Jokic was a pro in Europe from a young age. The expectations are unrealistic at all. Harry has the court vision and hands to be that good of a passer.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
Why would the Pelicans do this? And we ruled out Julius Randle last year when he we committed to MB3. The free agent we should have pursued over the summer was Capella, who I was shouting to the Moon for us to pursue during his contract dispute with the Rockets. We lost out on LaVine then sat quiet. Vlade allowed sentimentality to get the best of him, his allegiance to his first draft pick. If we gave Capella 100M, more than which he settled for, and traded away Willie in the process, we would currently be a Top 4 team in the West. I have no doubt.
you don't give Capela 100 million, that's ludicrous. Capela is as good as he is because he is playing with an MVP and one of the best scorers in the history of the NBA. Trading Willie now won't net the Kings much value in my opinion when teams know he is a free agent anyway and I'd imagine he will be testing the Free Agency waters.
 
I still say the Kings have great rebounding guards. They are okay at the 3.
It is the 4 and 5 positions that are weak when it comes to rebounding. Bejelica has some good games on the boards. Giles and Bagley can rebound. Willie is the wild card, with a few great games to go along with plenty of 4-6 rebound games. He is often the third of fourth best rebounder in a game.