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The Sacramento Kings selected Willie Cauley-Stein with the sixth overall pick. I can’t believe they didn’t take Emmanuel Mudiay … and yet, I kinda like it.
It appears that DeMarcus Cousins rightfully won’t be moved this offseason, and Cauley-Stein is an intriguing front court partner. Defensively, he’s the most complete prospect since Anthony Davis. He can do it all; he has incredible speed, hands, strength and shot blocking instincts. He’s a high school wide receiver who has only played competitive basketball for a couple of years, and he already has a really good understanding of positioning on defense.
His one potential weakness on that end is non-elite defensive rebounding, and Cousins’ compliments him perfectly as one of the best rebounders in the entire league. In a sense, he’s pretty NBA-ready in that he can make an instant impact on the defense, while still having plenty of upside. This fits the Kings’ ownership’s desire to compete as soon as possible, and perhaps give Cousins a reason to stay when his contract expires in three years.
That said, Mudiay was the obvious pick, as the Kings have a Darren Collison-sized hole at the point. It’s a tad surprising that Mudiay even fell this far, as there was a lot of noise about the New York Knicks either taking him or trading their pick to someone who would.
In addition, Cauley-Stein has almost no offensive game, which could make the offensive spacing cramped when he shares the floor with Cousins. There have also been whispers that his ankle is considerably worse than originally estimated. His draft stock fell a little bit in recent weeks, with some mock drafts having him fall late into the lottery.
So, Cauley-Stein is a bit of a reach at six, although not an egregious one. He’s not a great value at this point as his offensive upside is extremely limited, but his skills defensively should be enough to keep him a solid starter with fringe All-Star potential if he develops into an All-NBA type of defender. I have a feeling that the Kings will regret passing on Mudiay, but he’s not an awful first pick of the Vlade Divac era in Sacramento.
