Don't believe the hype, he's no more injured now than he was before and teams knew about his injury history. It's the typical hit job to bring him down to teams that want him lower in the draft. It could work to our advantage having his stock drop like this.
The 2015 NBA Draft is coming up on Thursday, and Willie Cauley-Stein is considered a consensus top-eight player. However, according to a report from DraftExpress.com, his stock may be taking a slight hit heading into the event.Particularly, the concerns are about the ankle injury he sustained in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. It was a stress fracture that occurred in the team's Sweet 16 game against Louisville.
Five separate NBA teams we spoke with all indicated varying degrees of concern after consulting with their team doctors this week, with some saying it may cost the Kentucky big man a few spots on draft night. “There is some maintenance that needs to be done there, as it's not completely clear whether the injury healed in a proper way. The pin that was inserted is supposed to be sitting at a 90 degree angle, but instead it's at 45 degrees. That, plus some question marks about his background that came up could cause him to drop a few slots.”
DraftExpress.com's president, Jonathan Givony, also reached out to Cauley-Stein's agent for comment, who said this:
“Willie is not stressing about where he goes in this draft, and teams that have done their research know that there is nothing to be concerned about. Martin O'Malley, a renowned ankle and foot specialist in New York, checked his foot out last week and said he's completely fine. Doctor O'Malley is used by almost every team in the NBA, including working with our client Kevin Durant. The fracture has healed and is asymptomatic. Teams who are overly cautious may want to look into an offseason cleanup if we agreed to it, but currently Willie is 100% pain free and not limited in any way. Any team that really looks at this will have no reason for concern. Teams rely on their doctors, and we rely on ours. I told them they can call Doctor O'Malley and many have already.”
Okay, so there's a bit to unpack here. First and foremost, it's worth noting that as Kristaps Porzingis stock has seemingly risen to where he'll probably be taken in the top-five on Thursday, Cauley-Stein's has fallen simply due to team need. The Knicks, Magic and Kings -- teams occupying the No. 4 through No. 6 spots on draft night -- could all use Cauley-Stein, but then the next three teams in the draft order don't actually have a great need for a big man.
He doesn't fit the Nuggets at No. 7 with both Kenneth Faried and Jusuf Nurkic there. The Pistons at No. 8 already have Andre Drummond. At No. 9, the Hornets need shooting and offense more than anything, and Cauley-Stein isn't the kind of guy who is going to create for himself. Once Porzingis stock was affirmed to be as high as it was within NBA front offices, there simply are and will be a limited number of spots for someone like Cauley-Stein to go. That's why in my most recent mock draft, I had Cauley-Stein falling to the Pacers, who traded up to No. 9 to get him from No. 11.
So that's where this leak comes into play. It's always interesting how these reports come out during draft week. Everyone and everything that is said this time of year has an ulterior motive, and here there's a fairly decent chance that while the concerns are assuredly legitimate and the reporting is definitely accurate, teams around the NBA are trying to use this report as a way to get Cauley-Stein to drop to their selection either at the end of the lottery or in the mid-teens. It's a perfectly-timed release in that way, just how something similar was released last season in reference to future No. 7 overall pick Julius Randle.
Of course, there's also the flip side to this, and that's the idea that any time that a seven-footer has any sort of foot problems, it raises a question. Especially when it comes to a player that is so built on athleticism like Cauley-Stein is. So maybe teams in the No. 11 to No. 16 range of the draft get lucky to have a player of Cauley-Stein's considerable skill level fall to them, and just end up having to do a slight clean up surgery to make sure that the foot heals well this offseason.
Even with these issues, I would find it surprising if he fell out of the lottery. He's the No. 8 player on my draft board, and is more in the tier of players with Justise Winslow and Mario Hezonja than he is in the tier of those below him like Devin Booker, Stanley Johnson and Frank Kaminsky. His potential on defense is that of an All-NBA-like performer, and it's just hard to find those kind of big men, especially with the way that he guards the pick-and-roll at seven-feet tall. That's worth the risk of a slight foot injury in the back half of the lottery, given that he played so well on it this year anyway.
6/22/2015 2:44 PM