Looking back, before the Dallas Mavericks acquired Willie Cauley-Stein today in a trade with the Golden State Warriors, they almost missed out on securing the talented 7-foot center.
Well, actually the entire NBA almost missed out on Cauley-Stein.
There are soothsayers – and there are plenty of them – who were convinced that following his high school days, Cauley-Stein was going to take his exceptional talents to the college football ranks and ultimately to the NFL. That’s how prolific the tall and lanky athlete was with a football in his hands.
After transferring from one Kansas high school to another as a sophomore, Cauley-Stein only played one year of high school football at Olathe Northwest in Olathe, Kan. And he wanted to play quarterback, but was convinced by his coaches to play wide receiver, where his exceptional height was an obvious advantage.
Legend has it that while the fade-route when his team got in the red zone was one of Cauley-Stein’s favorite plays, he also didn’t mind going oyer the middle on a slant route where he knew he likely would be met by a crushing blow from a safety, cornerback or linebacker.
While helping his team win a 7-on-7 tournament at the University of Kansas, KU coaches offered Cauley-Stein a football scholarship on the spot. As a high school senior, he went on to lead the state of Kansas in receiving with 64 receptions for 1,265 yards and 15 touchdowns for an average of 19.7 yards per catch.
But instead of football, Cauley-Stein hitched his wagon to the famed basketball program at Kentucky, where John Calipari was the head coach. And after playing three seasons with the Wildcats, Cauley-Stein was part of a decorated draft class that had six Kentucky players selected in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 overall to Minnesota, Cauley-Stein was drafted sixth overall by Sacramento, Trey Lyles went 12th to Utah, Devin Booker went 13th to Phoenix, while Andrew Harrison (Phoenix) and Dakari Johnson (Oklahoma City) were mid-second round picks. It’s the same draft that produced Kristaps Porzingis, who went fourth overall by the New York Knicks and who was later traded to the Mavs on Jan. 31, 2019.
Cauley-Stein is a high-jumping, ultra-quick, athletic phenom who fills an immediate need for the Mavs in the wake of last week’s season-ending torn right Achilles tendon injury to Dwight Powell. After becoming a consensus first-team All-American and the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, he made an immediate impact in the NBA and was named to the league’s All-Rookie second team in 2016.
Afforded more playing time after the Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans in February of 2017, Cauley-Stein averaged 12.8 points and seven rebounds during the 2017-18 season, and 11.9 points and 8.4 rebounds last season.
However, the Kings decided to make Cauley-Stein an unrestricted free agent last summer so they could have more cap space to secure guard Cory Joseph. That moved didn’t go over well with some of the locals.
Meanwhile, in analyzing their overall games, there are some differences between Cauley-Stein and Powell, but their numbers are quite similar. Cauley-Stein averaged 7.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 23 minutes while playing 41 games this season for the Warriors, and Powell averaged 9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 26.5 minutes while playing 40 games this season for the Mavs.
There will be an adjustment period for Cauley-Stein as he gets accustomed to the Mavs’ playing style, and they get used to what he brings to the table. But the player who once ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds – he also played cornerback in high school – has the skill-set to help the Mavs overcome the loss of Powell.
During a Jan. 6, 2018 win over Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, Cauley-Stein scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shots in just 25 minutes and recorded a career-high seven steals. And in a Dec. 23, 2018, victory over Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, he poured in 22 points and collected a career-high 17 rebounds.
Not bad for a player who once had aspirations of playing in the NFL.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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