Analyzing Willie Cauley-Stein’s Current Progress in Summer League

As we start to hit mid-July, newly acquired Kings rookie Willie Cauley-Stein is in the midst of another obstacle in his rookie season. That’s right, now the former Kentucky Wildcat has logged three games with the Sacramento Kings, as he is in Las Vegas playing in the NBA Summer League.

More from Kings News

• 3 Ways Chris Duarte improves the Kings chances in 2023-24
• Bleacher Report crazily lists Kings’ All-Star as “most overrated NBA player”
• Kings and Heat fans clash on Twitter to debate All-Star players
• Sacramento Kings’ Chris Duarte playing in 2023 FIBA World Cup
• 3 Young players the Kings must develop, 2 to give up on

For rookies, Summer League gives them the chance to showcase their talents for the first time at the professional level.

Although not 100% guaranteed, the results that players have in Summer League usually reflect on how easy or hard of a transition it will be when they actually do play against NBA competition.

Based on my analysis on Cauley-Stein, there have been ups and downs so far. On the offensive end, he is what you would expect him to be. He’s going to be that guy that runs the floor and picks up most of his points off hustle and fast breaks, but that’s not a problem since the Kings are implementing the “run-and-gun” offense in their system going forward.

The drawback however is that his ability to run the floor seems to be his only asset offensively. When Cauley-Stein was given opportunities to showcase his post game and jump shot you might have seen a flash or two, but overall both need to be improved dramatically.

On the bright side, Cauley-Stein was drafted for his defense, which he definitely has displayed so far. As his role of a rim-protector, Cauley-Stein has been the beneficiary of a couple of highlighted blocked shots so far, and is averaging close three blocks a contest. So what Cauley-Stein can’t do offensively, he makes up on defense.

Overall, Cauley-Stein has lived up to expectations (in my opinion) throughout Summer League. He is still very unpolished offensively, but on the defensive side he continues to prove that when he does finally play against actually NBA players that he can hold his own.

As Kings fans, we all knew what Cauley-Stein was bringing to the table. Right now, he is solely here to be a rim-protector, and whatever he can contribute offensively is a bonus.

We have seen many Kings rookies in the past have trouble in Summer League, and it has resulted in constant struggles in their rookie seasons. Fortunately this year is different, and quite refreshing, as Cauley-Stein has lived up to the hype so far.