The Houston Rockets are signing former Kentucky basketball star big man Willie Cauley-Stein on a 10-day contract, according to a report this week by Shams Charania.
The seven-year NBA veteran has spent the season with Rockets’ Rio Grande Valley G League affiliate, averaging 7.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
After spending the 2019-21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, Cauley-Stein was waived Jan. 15, 2022, to make roster room for new signing Marquese Chriss. The 7-footer signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers a little over a month later and appeared in two games before he was waived.
Cauley-Stein has played 422 games during his first seven seasons in the NBA and boasts career averages of 8.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.8 blocks per game. He has shot 54.4% from the field during his career and 18.8% from 3-point range.
Cauley-Stein spent the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, who selected him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. The former Kentucky star played the best ball of his career during his four seasons in Sacramento, averaging 10.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.0 minutes over 295 games (199 starts). He was a Second Team All-Rookie selection in 2016.
After his rookie contract expired, Cauley-Stein joined the Golden State Warriors in 2019 on a two-year, $4.4 million deal. He appeared in 41 games for the Warriors in 2019, averaging 7.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks in 23.0 minutes per game before being dealt to the Dallas Mavericks for a 2020 second-round pick.
A former four-star recruit out of Olathe (Kan.) Northwest, Cauley-Stein was ranked as the No. 43 overall prospect and No. 6 center in the Class of 2012.
As a junior for the Wildcats in 2014-15, Cauley-Stein was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year as Kentucky won its first 38 games en route to its second Final Four appearance. He was also selected to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team and the USA Today first team All-American Team after averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
Cauley-Stein ranks No. 2 in career blocks at Kentucky with 233, trailing only Jamaal Magloire (268), who played four seasons to Cauley-Stein’s three. Cauley-Stein recorded 106 blocks as a sophomore in 2013-14, tying him with Nerlens Noel (2012-13) for second in Kentucky’s record book behind Anthony Davis’ 186 in 2011-12.
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April 9, 2015, Cauley-Stein — along with Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, and Karl-Anthony Towns — declared for the NBA draft. Cauley-Stein, Towns, Booker and Lyles were all selected in the lottery, which tied Kentucky with UNC in 2005 for most players selected in the lottery by one school.
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