While the Sacramento Kings may have taken another blowout loss from the Spurs, there was a major silver lining. A returning Dylan Cardwell played his second game of the season and looked good doing it. Slowly, he will return to being the defensive powerhouse the Kings badly need him to be.
Late in the preseason, Cardwell suffered a left calf strain that caused him to miss the first seven games of the regular season. This was actually a huge problem for the Kings. Cardwell is only in his sophomore season, but they really missed his defense. He's a huge part of their defensive identity.
Cardwell made his return against the Lakers, another loss. Being that it was both his first game back from injury and his first game of the regular season, his performance was muted. That was probably in part due to managing his injury and not wanting to put too much pressure on him in his return.
Game two was the start of a return to last season's form. In 15+ minutes, Cardwell chalked up nine points, two rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal. His +/- was a +7, the highest on the team by far. His impact on the Kings' defense has been immediate and important.
It's up to the Kings to not squander Cardwell
As it stands right now, Sacramento is starting Domantas Sabonis at center. Considering how much money the team is paying Domas, that's unlikely to change any time soon. Well, unless they finally find a team willing to take on his absurd contract and he gets the chance to move on from the Kings.
In the meantime, the Kings need to make sure that Cardwell continues to play at least 15 to 20 minutes per game. And that's a bare minimum. Frankly, he should be playing more than that considering how important he is to Sacramento's defense. Plus, he's one heck of a lob threat.
But Cardwell's most important contribution is his energy. He plays the game with a level of positivity and joy very few come close to matching. No one gets the Golden 1 Center crowd into a game like Cardwell, even if the Kings are down by 25 points. He still gets the fans hyped, which is amazing.
The Kings cannot waste Cardwell's potential. Sabonis playing 30+ minutes a game is not helping this team win. Sacramento has to make sure that Cardwell is getting a lot of time, which will become more complicated when Maxime Raynaud makes his return from injury. Just don't forget about Cardwell.
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