Getty Willie Cauley-Stein of the Dallas Mavericks.
Since being drafted in 2018, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has had many different centers play alongside him. Eight to be exact. Of those eight, only two remain, JaVale McGee, and Dwight Powell.
On February 27, news broke that one of Luka’s ex-centers was signing with a new team.
Just before 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that former No. 6 overall pick Willie Cauley-Stein was expected to sign a 10-day contract with the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets are planning to sign center Willie Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract, sources tell me and @KellyIko. Cauley-Stein, a seven-year NBA veteran, has spent the season with Rockets‘ Rio Grande Valley G League affiliate.
Cauley-Stein spent a large chunk of his NBA career in Dallas. He suited up 84 times over three seasons with the Mavs. Cauley-Stein even started in 20 of those 80 games, playing 14.9 minutes each time.
His numbers certainly reflected the number of minutes he played in Dallas. In his 41 appearances for the Mavericks, Cauley-Stein averaged 4.5 points, 4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on 61.8% shooting from the floor.
As Charania highlighted in his report, the 29-year-old had been playing his ball this season with the Rio Grande Vipers – Houston’s G League affiliate. In 16 showcase games, Cauley-Stein averaged 6.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, while shooting 64.9% from the field.
Jarred Vanderbilt Speaks on Defending Mavs’ Luka Doncic
While Cauley-Stein is on the receiving end of some good news with his new opportunity, the Mavs are coming off of a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, that was far from that.
Dallas blew a 27-point lead, allowing L.A. to claw back and steal the W.
Following his team’s tremendous comeback, Jarred Vanderbilt, who was tasked with the goal of slowing down Doncic, spoke with reporters. He discussed the mindset he had when working to slow down the Slovenian star.
“My mindset was just to make him uncomfortable. He’s a hell of a player when he’s comfortable and he can get into his rhythm and get into his zone,” Vanderbilt said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “So, I was trying to disrupt that. Just picking him up, 94 (feet), just making him work. I knew throughout the course of the game he was going to get tired and get fatigued. Just bringing the ball up and down the whole court and then try and make a move after I already cut eight seconds off the clock. I knew he was going to get tired. My thing was to just get up in him and force him to drive, just be physical with him and make him uncomfortable. I think in the second half we did a good job of that without fouling.”
Jason Kidd Slams Mavs After Disastrous Collapse
The real post game spectacle came from Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who slammed his team’s performance and called for more maturity from his players.
“I’m not the savior here. I’m not playing. I’m watching, just like you guys,” Kidd said via Kevin Gray Jr. of 105.3 The Fan. “As a team, we’ve got to mature. We’ve got a lot of new bodies coming back and we have to grow up if we want to win a championship. There’s no young team that’s ever won a championship, mentally or physically… For two and a half quarters we’re playing a high level on both ends, offensively and defensively. But, what the Lakers just showed us is that it’s not a race, it’s not the rabbit that wins, it’s the turtle. They worked the game. That’s what we have to get to, we have to get better at working the game, and we will.”
Mavs Jason Kidd: “I’m not the savior here. I’m not playing. I’m watching, just like you guys. As a team, we’ve got to mature.” – when asked why he didn’t call timeouts during Lakers runs, especially at end of second quarter #MFFL
(🎥: @dallasmavs)