While it can be easy to forget, the Sacramento Kings picked up a third rookie when they drafted Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud. Dylan Cardwell went undrafted, but the Kings signed him to a two-way contract. Sacramento should be seriously looking at him as a running buddy for Maxime Raynaud.
Like Clifford and Raynaud, Cardwell had a solid preseason run with the Kings, but he was always destined for the G League. Dylan is on a two-way contract, and the Kings' roster was full at that point. As such, a trip to the Stockton Kings to help season his game was the plan.
It's worked out pretty well for him. To date, he has started all 10 games the Stockton Kings have played. Cardwell is averaging 10.7 points per game on 59.1% shooting from the field. On top of that, he's averaging 11.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game.
At 6 feet 10 inches and 255 pounds, Cardwell is a defensive powerhouse who locks down the paint and bullies opponents around on offense. He does tend to pick up a lot of fouls, averaging 3.5 per game, but that comes with the territory of his size and style of play. The Kings need that.
Cardwell with Raynaud on the Kings would be epic
Sacramento has ongoing problems with being outsized and a lack of defensive presence. Calling Cardwell up when the time is right would help mitigate those issues. It wouldn't completely solve the problem, but it would be a positive step in the right direction.
Even more compelling is the idea of partnering Cardwell with Maxime Raynaud on a line. At 7 feet 1 inch and 255 pounds, Raynaud has built a strong presence for himself with Domantas Sabonis on the shelf. His confidence and dominance seem to grow exponentially every game.
Taking these two rookie bigs and pairing them would create a powerhouse frontcourt for the Kings. Putting one in a forward position and the other at center gives the Kings the size they've been lacking, and would also increase their defensive presence dramatically.
Again, the time has to be right as both players need time to grow and develop before placing them together on a line. But this is also the way the NBA is going, putting multiple versatile bigs on the court together to dominate the floor. The Kings don't want to be further behind than they already are.