The Sacramento Kings were hoping Willie Cauley-Stein would make a major jump in his fourth year in the league, giving them no choice but to re-sign him in free agency. That didn't happen and things could soon change at the Golden 1 Center.
While the center was expected to make a considerable jump, but the addition of rookie Marvin Bagley III clearly changed those plans, as the rookie big man proved worthy of playing time through the course of the season.
ESPN's Zach Lowe noted during his recent appearance in The J.J. Redick's Podcast that he expects the Kings to sign a different player to take over Cauley-Stein's starting spot.
Via Sagar Trika of Blazers Edge:
“Sacramento's gonna get a center, and it's not gonna be Willie Cauley-Stein. They're gonna sign a center.”
The Kentucky product took a slight step back in 2018-19, despite posting a career-high in rebounds (8.4 per game) along with his offensive boards (2.2).
Cauley-Stein also regressed with his free-throw shooting with a near-7% decline at the foul line — all while failing to develop into the shot-blocker GM Vlade Divac had long wanted him to become due to his length and athleticism.
While Bagley played most of his minutes at power forward, he led the Kings in shots blocked, showing better potential to be a rim defender, despite being two inches shorter than the 7-footer.
The Kings could look vastly different next year if they let Cauley-Stein walk and Harrison Barnes finds a new home, yet still boasting a good young core of players to make another run.
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