NCAA Tournament Round-Up: Wolves Top Draft Candidates

Mar 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) dunks against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the finals of the midwest regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)

NCAA Tournament Game Log:

vs. Hampton: 20 minutes, 7 points (1-5 FG, 5-8 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks

vs. Cincinnati: 28 minutes, 9 points (3-6 FG, 3-3 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks

vs. West Virginia: 30 minutes, 8 points (3-5 FG, 2-4 FT), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks

vs. Notre Dame: 33 minutes, 6 points (3-5 FG), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks

vs. Wisconsin: 33 minutes, 2 points (1-4 FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks

Cauley-Stein hasn’t been stuffing the stat sheet much in his career at Kentucky, and that showed in the NCAA Tournament. However, his presence is definitely felt when watching Kentucky play, especially on the defensive side of the floor.

Cauley-Stein might be the best defender in the this draft class. He moves exceptionally well for a 7-footer, and can legitimately match up with any player, point guard through center, and shut him down. He has great leaping ability and length which makes him a force protecting the rim. Additionally, these attributes make him very good on the boards, both offensively and defensively.

Cauley-Stein is still very raw offensively. It seems as if most of his points this season came from dunks or easy layups. He isn’t much of a threat with the ball in his hands on offense, which may scare some teams away despite his great potential on defense. The Wolves could use Cauley-Stein as another big man to plug into the power forward position, but Cauley-Stein’s lack of offensive ability raises a red flag.

Next: Stanley Johnson