Sacramento Kings starting center Willie Cauley-Stein recently announced that he wants out, with the intention of having a fresh start with a new team. However, he might not be able to walk away easily.
According to NBC Sports' James Ham, the Kings are carefully looking at their options, as they do not want to allow the disgruntled big man to leave the franchise without them getting anything in return.
Vlade Divac and his team aren’t going to respond to the report with anything of substance, nor should they. They have until June 29 to make a decision on the 25-year-old big and his $6.3 million qualifying offer, and according to a league source, they're still mulling their options.
Cauley-Stein, like every other first-round pick to come into the league, is under team control for his first four seasons and can become a restricted free agent in Year 5. By failing to extend a qualifying offer, Divac would walk away from an asset without any hope of compensation.
Cauley-Stein, the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, has failed to live up to the expectations and has obviously been left behind by the big men who were in the same draft class.
Karl Anthony-Towns and Kristaps Porzingis have already been an All-Star. Even Myles Turner (11th) and Montrezl Harrell (32nd) have had better careers compared to Cauley-Stein at this point.
For the four-year veteran, however, he can still become one of the best big men in the league. Cauley-Stein just doesn't feel that he can do it with the Kings.
Sacramento may eventually let him go, but not after they have exhausted all the possibilities of getting something in return for him. If the Kings end up extending a qualifying offer for Willie, it will most likely be because of a potential trade.
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