Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein is the best shot-blocker in the NBA Draft class by a comfortable margin, and believes he is the best overall player on the board. He is also expressing an interest in playing savior for a team that had the worst season in franchise history last year.
"The Knicks are historic, in one of the best programs. If you had Knicks on your jersey, you'd automatically become part of a fraternity. Also, they're having a down period where they're not as good as they've been in the past, so if I was to come in and our team turned it around, then you're going to automatically go down in history for turning around the Knicks," Cauley-Stein said.
His name doesn't have the cache of teammate Karl-Anthony Towns or Duke center Jahlil Okafor, but Cauley-Stein thinks that's because his brand of dominance is less obvious on stat sheets.
"I feel like most people care about offense and then play defense 'cause they have to. I take pride in defense, and will play offense when I have to," Cauley-Stein said.
"Everybody overlooks my jumper, which if we went to the gym right now, you would be impressed with my jumper, or handling skills. I could do a lot of different stuff on the court that nobody knows about."
Last season Cauley-Stein averaged just 8.9 points per game, but that may have been a product of sharing the court with a host of All-American top recruits. Cauley-Stein rarely, if ever, had plays designed for him and made the most of dirty-work shot attempts.
"If I was on a trash team, I could have took 20 shots a game, and averaged these crazy numbers, but don't have to do that, so it's just not part of you. But at the next level, you're going to be on a team to produce, so I feel like that's when it's going to come in. I think people are going to be shocked," Cauley-Stein said.
The Knicks need help in a number of areas, but their defense was especially porous. They ranked 21st in points allowed per game (101.2), and third from the bottom in field goal percentage (46 percent). Cauley-Stein would provide instant assistance with his rim protection, and if his offense is as good as advertised, he could complement Carmelo Anthony offensively without requiring the touches of an Okafor or Towns.
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