FA: Willie Cauley-Stein to DAL | 2 yrs, $8.2M (2nd year team option)

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

Yeah, they tried to sign everyone else first.  Then gave him one guaranteed year.  I dont hate WCS but I bet Carlisle will have a short hook with him.

[Drew]

I think that IF WCS's head is on straight, AND Powell isn't right to start this season, THEN some will be surprised how much WCS shines here. 

This might end up being an AMAZING TDL asset, tbh.

I predict WCS plays average for all the games KP is out. Then once KP is back, WCS is moved to the bench and never seen from again.

Which is pretty much what they needed. A guy to bridge the gap to a healthy KP and to be here for when he’s hurt. 

WCS can be that. Think him missing out on the bubble(understandably) put him on the back burner much more than it should have.

[Benskix2]

No guaranteed salary next year and a bigger salary number this year for potential trade salary matching is a smart move.

[michaeltex]

I think that IF WCS's head is on straight, AND Powell isn't right to start this season, THEN some will be surprised how much WCS shines here. 

This might end up being an AMAZING TDL asset, tbh.

I predict WCS plays average for all the games KP is out. Then once KP is back, WCS is moved to the bench and never seen from again.

Which is pretty much what they needed. A guy to bridge the gap to a healthy KP and to be here for when he’s hurt. 

WCS can be that. Think him missing out on the bubble(understandably) put him on the back burner much more than it should have.

Or, if Powell isn't his old self, which I expect to be the case, with reduced minutes and load-managed games missed, WCS could still be a big to eat minutes in the 5 and allow Kleber to play PF, which is a more natural position for him.

I have a private hope that WCS is one of those cast-offs who blossoms on the Mavs and becomes a real asset. He doesn't have to provide much leadership or score a ton. He just has to be steady and fit into the flow around him. He should be more adapted to the DAL scheme than he would going somewhere else. 

Training camp is only a week away? Things are moving fast.

[Scott41theMavs]

I spent quite a bit of time watching WCS highlights last night. I noticed two things:

1) He looked substantially better on both ends of the court in those highlights with the Kings and Warriors than he ever did in even his best games with the Mavs - and I was perfectly satisfied with what I saw from him with the Mavs last year. With cow saying WCS was so dire with the Kings, he would have had to have spent pretty much the entirety of the rest of the games outside of the highlights heading to the side of the court while he was in the game to eat hotdogs. I understand the idea that highlights make all players look great, but I saw a guy with tremendous ***awareness*** (which was surprising from WCS, to be quite honest) on both ends of the court.

2) As for the "hotdogs" comment above, that was one thing I noticed - I did get this impression watching the videos of some sense of nonchalance before plays kicked in - moving a bit slowly, not seeming to have his head in the game - and then it was like he'd see something that made a fuse light and he made the move (once again, on both ends of the court) to do something impressive. So my takeaway was that if you put Green's or Hinton's motor in Willie, you'd have a defensive, rebounding and rim-finishing beast.

I'm hoping that Luka and the crew of dawgs that we traded for, signed, or drafted will get into Willie's head to make him enjoy and be engaged in playing winning basketball. Unless he becomes a better-than-Dwight-level shooter, he's not a guy you'd want starting for the Mavs long-term (not an issue - we have a starting center), but he could definitely become a long-term solution as the primary bench big.

[cow]

With cow saying WCS was so dire with the Kings

Except I never said that. I know it's all fun and games to trade barbs, but please don't put words in my mouth.

[StepBackJay]

I think WCS is solid and didn't really get a good chance to show off his skills. Athletically he is Tyson-esque but doesn't have a high motor. Keeping him motivated to play hard is a bit of a challenge but you are only asking him to contribute as a rotational guy. Rick loves a good PnR 5 who can block shots and that's WCS. I really think he improves your interior defense when he's out there. At any rate he will need to play hard to earn minutes so hopefully that provides enough motivation.

[Scott41theMavs]

With cow saying WCS was so dire with the Kings

Except I never said that. I know it's all fun and games to trade barbs, but please don't put words in my mouth.

You didn't use the exact words "so dire," but you did say that 1) you had watched him consistently throughout his Kings career (are you a Kings fan, or do you just watch all of the NBA games, the way Roger Ebert used to watch "all of the movies?"), and 2) that he was a bad basketball player.

I'll go back and find the posts for you if you want. I'm pretty close to 100% that you said those things.

[cow]

With cow saying WCS was so dire with the Kings

Except I never said that.  I know it's all fun and games to trade barbs, but please don't put words in my mouth.

You didn't use the exact words "so dire," but you did say that 1) you had watched him consistently throughout his Kings career (are you a Kings fan, or do you just watch all of the NBA games, the way Roger Ebert used to watch "all of the movies?"), and 2) that he was a bad basketball player.

I'll go back and find the posts for you if you want. I'm pretty close to 100% that you said those things.

When I play fantasy basketball I have a bad habit of watching every game my teams or opponents are involved in.  I've watched more terrible basketball teams and games than I care to even admit.   

My narrative with WCS is pretty simple, unfulfilled potential because of his mentality and commitment to basketball.  The reason I had no desire to have him on the team is that there is no long term future for him.

[HanspardsShowerVoice]

With cow saying WCS was so dire with the Kings

Except I never said that.  I know it's all fun and games to trade barbs, but please don't put words in my mouth.

You didn't use the exact words "so dire," but you did say that 1) you had watched him consistently throughout his Kings career (are you a Kings fan, or do you just watch all of the NBA games, the way Roger Ebert used to watch "all of the movies?"), and 2) that he was a bad basketball player.

I'll go back and find the posts for you if you want. I'm pretty close to 100% that you said those things.

When I play fantasy basketball I have a bad habit of watching every game my teams or opponents are involved in.  I've watched more terrible basketball teams and games than I care to even admit.   

My narrative with WCS is pretty simple, unfulfilled potential because of his mentality and commitment to basketball.  The reason I had no desire to have him on the team is that there is no long term future for him.

I specifically remember listening to a Zach Lowe podcast with Kevin Arnovitz and they were dogging on WCS for his lack of effort and being mentally checked out about as severely as I can ever remember those two with a player.    And those are two guys who I feel really try to avoid being Hot Take-y with hyperbole and try to be fair with players and give them the benefit of the doubt.    When the Mavs acquired him I was thinking "Well, can he just do Dwight Powell things?" and then went back and checked some Kings boards and old articles about him, and the answer is he can do those things but he doesn't want to because he thinks it is beneath his talents. Offensively he gets bored just being a rim runner. He wants to be KP and do pick and pops. He thinks he could have been Porzingis if the Knicks would have drafted him.   Defensively he just doesn't protect the rim like you would expect someone of his length and talent (is the fact that he can guard out on the perimeter hurt him in that regard?).  And he'll go through stretches where he's motivated and raises his game, but it dissipates over time because he's not a naturally self motivated person day after day. Seems like every season with the Kings he started off hot because he wanted to show it was the New WCS and then as the season goes along he turns back into the Old WCS. The fact that Steve Kerr and Bob Meyer, who know what a winning organization and culture looks like, couldn't wait to basically give him away after he had been in their building for half a season isnt exactly a ringing endorsement either.


Now, people do sometimes change ... and nothing is more of a wake up call than becoming a father.   And maybe the 2 consecutive offseasons with a lack of much of market has opened his eyes that his NBA career is hanging by a thread.  Last season was about much of a worst case scenerio as you could imagine for him. He joined the Warriors because he thought he was joining this great culture and organization that he thought would get the most out of him. Then he gets injured right before training camp and misses most of the preseason and a chance to gell. The Steph gets hurt in Game 4, Draymond essentially checks out and they start a tank process. Then he gets traded, then COVID hits. A more resiliient person can fight through this stuff, but that's not him. Maybe the stability with the Mavs will be a great thing for him. But most likely he'll start out motivated to start the season but it will be temporarily peter out and he'll go back to old habits over time.   But maybe by that time Dwight Powell will be healthier and KP will be back and we wont need him to provide much.

Here's some choice WCS quotes ...

“If you trust your player and you give him the ball and you’re allowing him to make those choices himself instead of like ‘You don’t post up’ because I’ve been told that before, ‘We’re not posting you up.’ Then it’s like shit, what am I supposed to do?”

He doesn’t want to be just a rim runner on offense, even though he excels at it. He’s not shy about his desire to be a go-to guy on that end of the court, either.

“I’ve read that I’m playing to my strengths now but shooting the ball is one of my strengths, folks just haven’t seen it,” Cauley-Stein said. “I just haven’t shot the ball a lot — the last two years is the first time I really shot a lot.

“I’m still getting to the point where I’m open but I think I can just go past this guy (instead of shooting a jumper). I have to get to a spot mentally where I’m like ‘Damn I’m open, shoot it.’ Like when I get to that point that’s when the shit gets real serious.”

“I just want to hoop freely,” Cauley-Stein said. “That’s kind of the biggest thing for me, just going somewhere, whether it’s here or anywhere else, just taking that next evolution to the game where you’re not just a rim runner. You’re a pick-and-pop guy sometimes. You can get rolling with what the defense gives you. I wanna be that dude.”

After facing KP

“I think I just gotta get more selfish,” said Cauley-Stein, who hit 2-of-6 shots, and is averaging 8.9 points this season. “Offensively, I gotta get to the point that I’m just going at dudes like him. Guarding him, and then watching his game, you take away, oh, this is what he’s doing. I have the same body size, the same skill-level, just transfer it over to a game now. But being behind in the race, he’s been doing it for a while.”

“This league’s all about situations,” Cauley-Stein said. “I went to a situation where I’m playing behind the best center in the league [DeMarcus Cousins], or I could’ve gone to somewhere where they don’t have a guy, and now you’re the guy, and you’re getting all the touches. That helps a lot."

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/will...55631.html

[michaeltex]

Yes. One of Luka's assets is that he seems to have fun playing basketball and competing for the win, which he seems to share with some of the games legends. My hope is that WCS can get incorporated into the Luka "fun" bubble and re-discover his joy in playing, keeping him engaged in team success.

Either way, he's going to be needed for at least the first half of the season as KP and Powell get back into the rotation. I think we saw how important size is in the playoffs, so having a wider front court rotation will only help.

[KillerLeft]

WCS has always been a delusional head case. No one argues that. That’s how a lottery pick gets traded for a 2nd round pick. Carlisle probably won’t be able to reach him, either, but as a short term investment there’s no real risk in giving it a shot.

[HanspardsShowerVoice]

WCS has always been a delusional head case. No one argues that. That’s how a lottery pick gets traded for a 2nd round pick. Carlisle probably won’t be able to reach him, either, but as a short term investment there’s no real risk in giving it a shot.

Plus the pickings were slim.  Marc Gasol looked like he was absolutely toast in the bubble.   Baynes is a stiff and a paint clogger, and we already got that guy in Boban.

[dirkfansince1998]

WCS has always been a delusional head case. No one argues that. That’s how a lottery pick gets traded for a 2nd round pick. Carlisle probably won’t be able to reach him, either, but as a short term investment there’s no real risk in giving it a shot.

Plus the pickings were slim.  Marc Gasol looked like he was absolutely toast in the bubble.   Baynes is a stiff and a paint clogger, and we already got that guy in Boban.

I think the WCS signing was a neutral move. Not a win, not al loss. Baynes and Gasol can shoot from the perimeter but they don´t have any rim running ability. Both are probably still better on defense but they do not fit in the Mavs defensive scheme. As you pointed out. They lack mobility. Mavs also did not have the full MLE so any of the mentioned guys wasn´t really an option.

[KillerLeft]

@"dirkfansince1998" one of the reasons I like it is the situation. I’m a believer in continuity under normal circumstances, and the combination of fast turnaround and condensed schedule make that even more crucial this year, imo.

[MrGoat]

Wait, how? I thought our roster was already full.

[KillerLeft]

Wait, how? I thought our roster was already full.

They have 16 guaranteed contracts now. Some people are worried that they’re going to cut Luka to keep Barea, but most of us feel like things will workout just fine.

[omahen]

They have 16 guaranteed contracts now. Some people are worried that they’re going to cut Luka to keep Barea, but most of us feel like things will workout just fine.

Yeah, but what if Cuban doesn't want to spend anymore!? Luka will be up to max extension and that is a lot of money. Barea is just min guy, huge saving here

[MrGoat]

Wait, how? I thought our roster was already full.

They have 16 guaranteed contracts now. Some people are worried that they’re going to cut Luka to keep Barea, but most of us feel like things will workout just fine.

Oh, I thought it was 17:

Porzingis, Luka, Powell, Kleber, Hardaway, Richardson, Green, Johnson, Brunson, Powell, Barea, Burke, Terry, DFS, Boban, Bey, Hinton

So one of those guys is out obviously. I guess a Luka salary dump is coming to clear space for 2021

[fifteenth]

Luka will be up to max extension and that is a lot of money. Barea is just min guy, huge saving her

good point, Barea has a better $/pt and $/assist numbers