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Charlotte Hornets: Look at Willie Cauley-Stein

By John Woodcock

Oct 27, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) rebounds the ball against San Antonio Spurs center Dewayne Dedmon (3) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Spurs won the game 102-94. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 27, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) rebounds the ball against San Antonio Spurs center Dewayne Dedmon (3) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Spurs won the game 102-94. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Charlotte Hornets need to consider their long term plans at the center position.

The Charlotte Hornets are off to a 6-2 start on the season with last night’s loss to the Toronto Raptors. It was a hard fought close loss. It was a good effort for a team without Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and all that he means to the defense. Kemba Walker scored forty against last year’s Atlantic Division champion. No shame in this one.

The game also marked the return of Roy Hibbert to action. Hibbert was held to limited minutes, but the center scored ten points during that time. Hibbert’s return is important to the upward path of the Charlotte Hornets as he offers shot blocking that no other big does.

The problem with Hibbert is that he is prone to injury. A secondary problem would be that he is under contract for only this season. He is the latest in these band-aid deals that the Hornets have written over the past few years. The Hornets need to look beyond Hibbert, assuming that his health issues continue.

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That would require looking at the center position with an eye toward youth and shot blocking. It would be a bonus if that center was on a team where the position is cramped already. That would seem to be a hard circle to square.

No, this is not another Nerlens Noel argument. The 76ers clearly have not figured out how to handle that situation in their front court. Joel Embiid is starting to look effective and they can’t play everybody. Yes, there is not fore knowledge of whether Ben Simmons’ foot injury would push him inside and further gunk things up.

Instead let’s look west to Sacramento. There Demarcus Cousins rules the post. There is Kosta Koufos playing behind him. There is Willie Cauley-Stein playing behind him. Then there is the rookie Georgios Papagiannis who was just assigned to the NBDL with two other Kings rookies. That is also a bunch of bodies.

The player to target here would be Willie Cauley-Stein. He is on a rookie deal and offers much athleticism at the position for rim protection and rebounding. The problem is that the Kings are more or less tapped out under the cap. The ideal situation would be a Spencer Hawes – Cauley-Stein swap but Hawes makes three million more than Cauley-Stein and an additional player would need to be added to the deal.

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The only player that would make the trade work is forward Omri Casspi. That might to the wing depth of the Hornets. The Hollinger analysis of the NBA Trade Machine doesn’t like the deal for the Hornets because of Hawes’ efficiency. The Kings would probably balk at giving up so much.

Yet this is kind of calculation that the Hornets will need to make at some point in the future to anchor their post defense. Or we can hope that Hibbert remains healthy and signs a team friendly deal in the off season.

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