Willie Getting Some Love

CVKingsfan said:
Rookie Report: Willie Cauley-Stein

http://www.nba.com/kings/rookie-report-willie-cauley-stein

Suspect much more to follow once the season starts!
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Just a note: that's from the Kings own media division so...

Nonetheless I am of a mind that they are mostly right, and given all the media whipping boys we've got accumulated on one team, relatively speaking WCS is doing alright public perceptionwise, aside from those stuck on us passing on Mudiay.
 
Bricklayer said:
Just a note: that's from the Kings own media division so...

Nonetheless I am of a mind that they are mostly right, and given all the media whipping boys we've got accumulated on one team, relatively speaking WCS is doing alright public perceptionwise, aside from those stuck on us passing on Mudiay.
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Speaking of which,

I have watched Denver play this pre-season. and let me tell you something that everybody probably already knows, Mudiay is a VERY talented basketball player.
 
Team_Dime said:
Mudiay is a VERY talented basketball player.
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So is everyone else that was drafted.

This team didn't need a young PG that will need a few years to develop. They need to win now -- hence they made the right choice. If Mudiay develops into a perennial all-star, good for him. There are other players in this draft that the Kings also passed on that might accomplish the same. Can't draft then all.
 
KingsFanSince85 said:
So is everyone else that was drafted.

This team didn't need a young PG that will need a few years to develop. They need to win now -- hence they made the right choice. If Mudiay develops into a perennial all-star, good for him. There are other players in this draft that the Kings also passed on that might accomplish the same. Can't draft then all.
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Ya from preseason this looks like a strong draft. Porzingis can challenge Towns as the best player and Mario from orlando looks good. All 3 we looked at and would have been good picks.
 
KingsFanSince85 said:
So is everyone else that was drafted.

This team didn't need a young PG that will need a few years to develop. They need to win now -- hence they made the right choice. If Mudiay develops into a perennial all-star, good for him. There are other players in this draft that the Kings also passed on that might accomplish the same. Can't draft then all.
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I agree. However, going the Mudiay route was completely possible if we weren't planning to get Rondo, and we instead paid for another big. I would have been on-board with that, too. Glad to see that the route we chose is working out, so far...
 
k_dubb90 said:
True unless a stud sg is available and it's still our weakness at that time
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I like Willie. However, if Mudiay, Johnson, or Winslow turns into all stars, we'll be kicking ourselves.

At SG, Oubre and Vaughn were nice players. I think Willie will be good for us, but the next time we're given the opportunity again, we should absolutely go BPA.

It sucked that we didn't have a 2nd rounder. There were a few gems left. I really wanted normal Powell
 
BPA dont always work either. The draft is a crapshoot. There is more luck than talent involved. And no one is in agreement who the BPA is ever. You look at those mock drafts and they are all wrong every year for the most part. I think WHO is doing the picking is far more important than WHO is being picked where. I lost respect for Petrie in the end. Thomas Robinson was a terrible pick. Fredette was an absolute disaster. Sure some of that falls on the previous ownership as well, but the whole system had failed at that point.

The Key is that I TRUST VLADE ! I believe he will get ownership to get on board with the program. I believe he is a good judge of talent. I believe Vlade has assembled a good group to do the job necessary to produce a winning franchise. I am excited about not just the present but the future as well.
 
Dime Dropper said:
Sure, but good luck finding BPA. Stanley Johnson was not even close to being a concensus best player available (although he was certainly a good prospect), so it's kind of a pointless argument.
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True. Although some on this board argued that Stanley Johnson was the guy to get, it really is a crap shoot.
 
Livinthedream said:
True. Although some on this board argued that Stanley Johnson was the guy to get, it really is a crap shoot.
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No doubt, but plenty of others argued for others. He certainly was not seen as a sure thing (and still isn't, although he looks impressive), so it's not a valid argument.
 
Dime Dropper said:
Sure, but good luck finding BPA. Stanley Johnson was not even close to being a concensus best player available (although he was certainly a good prospect), so it's kind of a pointless argument.
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Imo, it was Mudiay, Johnson, Winslow, and WCS in order,of BPA.
 
Livinthedream said:
True. Although some on this board argued that Stanley Johnson was the guy to get, it really is a crap shoot.
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Yea the only reason why a lot of this board rejected Johnson was because we already have Rudy and it feels a little redundant. Doesn't take away the fact that he was one of the best players available though
 
Stanley Johnson and Mudiay might end up being better players over all, but there's more Stanleys and Mudiays in the game than there are Cauley-Steins. It's very difficult to find players with his skill set.

I've been 100% happy with what WCS has shown us so far. He's made some rookie mistakes but unlike our last handful of draft picks, his positive contributions outweigh his rookie mistakes by a large margin. He seems like a team players, knows his skills and doesn't try and do too much. Just takes what the game gives him on the offensive end and does what he does on the defensive end. His preseason stats so far are basically on par with what he did at Kentucky last year. He also seems very level headed and mature in his interviews.

Our interior defense is going to be a block party this year if Moreland can take Acys minutes. We used to struggle to have one player get 1 block per game. This year we're going to have 4 if Moreland gets even a handful of part time minutes off the bench. Going to be fun to watch for sure.
 
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those saying BPA available...isn't that what the Kings have been doing as of late? 3 out of the last 4 drafts or you can even say 4 out of the last 5 drafts have been busts or disappointments.
 
a drafting strategy that might be decent is to draft BPA while youre obviously a bad team, and keep doing that while hoping that one of your picks is good. then after one of your BPA picks turns out good, then you go with less risky, proven prospects to make sure that talents align for a few good years. what do you guys think?
 
206Fan said:
I like Willie. However, if Mudiay, Johnson, or Winslow turns into all stars, we'll be kicking ourselves.

At SG, Oubre and Vaughn were nice players. I think Willie will be good for us, but the next time we're given the opportunity again, we should absolutely go BPA.

It sucked that we didn't have a 2nd rounder. There were a few gems left. I really wanted normal Powell
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And what if WCS wins a DPOY and makes 10 All defensive teams? Will we still be kicking ourselves then?

The draft ultimately is a crap-shoot and we were in a "no lose" situation imo with Mudiay, WCS, Winslow and Johnson on the board. All 4 would have been fine picks at our spot.

I argued for Johnson as much as anyone on here, but I wasn't at all mad at the WCS pick. Defensive prospects of his caliber and potential are simply never available in the draft. He projects to fit perfectly with Cousins and perfectly matches the direction the NBA is heading with small-ball PF's.
 
206Fan said:
Imo, it was Mudiay, Johnson, Winslow, and WCS in order,of BPA.
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Says who? What info are you using to rate Mudiay so highly?

I happen to think Willie Cauley-Stein was the best player available. So did Vlade Divac which is why the Kings drafted him.
 
BPA is nice and all when it makes sense for a team to gain in no particular area (a team with middling talent in all/most positions). For example, Johnson is playing well now, but we have Rudy and he's here to stay.

It's like a mechanic with a car. A car needs a new drive belt, but the mechanic orders a wheel bearing because it's shiny and new (which is great), but it doesn't solve the problem with the drive belt. We as a team needed a front court partner for Cousins desperately and we found an ideal match in WCS, who has the tools to be one of the most devastating defenders in the league one day, if not outright own the league defensively. That's special potential, especially when you consider that a certain Demarcus Cousins is starting alongside him. It's a match made in heaven and I don't have a second thought about this for even a millisecond.
 
King Baller said:
Says who? What info are you using to rate Mudiay so highly?

I happen to think Willie Cauley-Stein was the best player available. So did Vlade Divac which is why the Kings drafted him.
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"in my opinion"

The_Jamal said:
And what if WCS wins a DPOY and makes 10 All defensive teams? Will we still be kicking ourselves then?

The draft ultimately is a crap-shoot and we were in a "no lose" situation imo with Mudiay, WCS, Winslow and Johnson on the board. All 4 would have been fine picks at our spot.

I argued for Johnson as much as anyone on here, but I wasn't at all mad at the WCS pick. Defensive prospects of his caliber and potential are simply never available in the draft. He projects to fit perfectly with Cousins and perfectly matches the direction the NBA is heading with small-ball PF's.
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I wasn't mad at the pick either
 
The_Jamal said:
And what if WCS wins a DPOY and makes 10 All defensive teams? Will we still be kicking ourselves then?

The draft ultimately is a crap-shoot and we were in a "no lose" situation imo with Mudiay, WCS, Winslow and Johnson on the board. All 4 would have been fine picks at our spot.

I argued for Johnson as much as anyone on here, but I wasn't at all mad at the WCS pick. Defensive prospects of his caliber and potential are simply never available in the draft. He projects to fit perfectly with Cousins and perfectly matches the direction the NBA is heading with small-ball PF's.
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It goes beyond that for me.

For me even IF one or more of those guys becomes an All Star, its still irrelevant as long as WCS is what eh could be -- the perfect long mobile rim protecting complement to Cousins. If he is, then what those other guys do is irrelevant. The point is to put together a winning team, not just collect All Stars. The two will often follow, but sometimes the perfect glue guy is just as valuable. We already have talent. We needed precisely what WCS may bring more than we needed another scorer.
 
206Fan said:
I like Willie. However, if Mudiay, Johnson, or Winslow turns into all stars, we'll be kicking ourselves.

At SG, Oubre and Vaughn were nice players. I think Willie will be good for us, but the next time we're given the opportunity again, we should absolutely go BPA.

It sucked that we didn't have a 2nd rounder. There were a few gems left. I really wanted normal Powell
Click to expand...

If they turn out to be stars, it has nothing to do with Willie. If we make the playoffs this year, Willie will be a part of the reason why. Thats all that matters. Every year, there's a PG that could be a star. There isn't a player like Willie every year. We had a genuine need, and Willie was the best player to fit that need.
 
In 1998, Geoff Petrie picked Jason Williams with the 7th pick. The next two guys drafted? Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, two dudes who've gone on to be undeniably better than White Chocolate. But, and this is a big but, Jason Williams turned out to be the better fit and helped spark the Greatest Show on Court Era.

Now obviously, I'm not drawing parallels between the two situations but rather pointing out that sometimes the best pick isn't the "best player" but rather the best fit for the situation.

That all said, if Willie develops even a little bit of an offensive game, he stands a chance of winding up as the best player out of the bunch simply because of what he can do at his position.
 
Tetsujin said:
In 1998, Geoff Petrie picked Jason Williams with the 7th pick. The next two guys drafted? Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, two dudes who've gone on to be undeniably better than White Chocolate. But, and this is a big but, Jason Williams turned out to be the better fit and helped spark the Greatest Show on Court Era.

Now obviously, I'm not drawing parallels between the two situations but rather pointing out that sometimes the best pick isn't the "best player" but rather the best fit for the situation.

That all said, if Willie develops even a little bit of an offensive game, he stands a chance of winding up as the best player out of the bunch simply because of what he can do at his position.
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Was actually thinking of that same draft when this was raised.

Don't really give a **** how good Winslow or Johnson or whoever are. Irrelevant if WCS gives us what we need.
 
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