Chance to thrive with Warriors swayed CauleyStein
LAS VEGAS — Willie CauleyStein started to think seriously about his next contract in the summer of 2016. Thanks to a swelling salary cap and NBA teams’ infatuation with size, middling centers commanded massive paydays in free agency.
Fresh off starting 39 games as a rookie with Sacramento, CauleyStein used money as motivation, making extra trips to the gym in hopes of lifelong financial security for him and his family. When CauleyStein told reporters at the Kings’ media day last September, “I’m ready to get paid,” he had no idea those five words would trail him the rest of the season.
The sound bite reinforced the public perception of him as having a tepid passion for the game. But as months passed,
CauleyStein slowly realized he had been thinking about his future all wrong: It’s the opportunity, not the contract, that matters.
When CauleyStein spurned more lucrative offers last week to sign with the Warriors — his deal, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic, is $4.4 million over two seasons, with a player option in the second season — he trusted that a season in the Bay Area would set him up longterm better than any payday could. In Golden State’s system, he should benefit from the spacing Stephen Curry, D’Angelo Russell and Klay Thompson provide, getting wideopen jumpers and alleyoop dunks.
An accomplished screenandroller, CauleyStein already has talked to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr about teaming with Russell for a steady drumbeat of pickandrolls when Curry and Draymond Green sit (their minutes typically align). After four years of watching the playoffs from home, CauleyStein can begin to hush his doubters, playing a key role for a team that has reached five straight Finals.
“I’ve been imagining it for a while,” said CauleyStein, who averaged 11.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last season for the Kings. “It’s crazy it’s actually happening. Me and my friends talk about it all the time. Guys (have to) damn near not guard me now.”
CauleyStein’s almost halfdecade in Sacramento was plagued by inconsistency. Although he flashed the interior defense and skills that made him the No. 6 pick of the 2015 NBA draft, CauleyStein too often disappeared during crucial stretches of games. His basketball IQ and love for the sport were questioned.
When the Kings didn’t offer CauleyStein a contract extension last summer after a breakout season, he knew he probably wasn’t in the team’s longterm plans. Last month, CauleyStein asked Sacramento not to give him a $6.26 million qualifying offer, preferring instead to test the market as an unrestricted free agent.
By the time the Kings finally rescinded their qualifying offer on the second day of free agency, many teams had filled their frontcourt needs. CauleyStein, who had hoped to land a contract of at least $10 million per year, was left to weigh offers closer to the $5 million to $6 million range.
Stressed over a future in flux, CauleyStein went fishing July 2 to ease his mind. When his agent called to tell him the Warriors were interested, he drove 2 miles for better reception and called Kerr, who told him that he thought CauleyStein’s pickandroll abilities provided the Warriors a muchneeded offensive wrinkle.
Moments after hanging up, Kerr called back to inform CauleyStein that Kevon Looney had just agreed to a threeyear, $15 million deal with the Warriors, leaving them with barely more than a minimum contract to offer CauleyStein. Without hesitation, CauleyStein thanked Kerr for his honesty and said, “I’m in, Coach.”
For the past four years, a blue Warriors hat has sat untouched in CauleyStein’s closet. He had bought it as a junior at Kentucky when Golden State was shocking the NBA with its first championship run in four decades.
As he watched Warriors games on TV, CauleyStein daydreamed about setting screens for Curry and barreling through a wideopen key for uncontested dunks. This was fantasy. After earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and AllAmerica honors, CauleyStein was widely projected to go in the top 10. The Warriors were picking 30th.
Now, with his daydream about to become reality, CauleyStein has no regrets about taking less money. The Warriors might not pay him eight figures, but they’re offering him an experience he couldn’t replicate elsewhere.
“I know I had said something about getting paid at the beginning of the year,” CauleyStein said. “But by the end of it, it was no longer about getting paid. It was about staying secure and building off that security.
“I think the Warriors are probably the best at doing that in the league. It was a really easy decision on me and my team’s part.”