The Sacramento Kings made heads turn when they made the decision to select a pure center with a top-10 pick while they had Demarcus Cousins under contract – someone that was arguably the league’s best center at the time.
Vlade Divac had several decisions that were more than questionable during his time with the Kings. Selecting Cauley-Stein was one of them – although again, in comparison to the three players selected after him – I’m not sure anyone else they would have selected would have yielded a better result.
NBA Draft: Re-picking the 2015 class
Enter: Christian Wood.
Wood has really blossomed into a high-level NBA player after being an NBA journeyman – his situation is unlike any other player. After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Wood started his career in Philadelphia, playing in 17 games for the 15-16 season. He then made his way to Charlotte, then Milwaukee followed by New Orleans.
Chrisian Wood finally found success in Detroit during the 2019-20 season, averaging 13 points, six rebounds, and one assist on splits of 57/39/74 – undeniably good.
Wood, wanting to “win”, would sign for the Houston Rockets (who proceeded to win the least amount of NBA games during the 2020-21 season), and averaged 21 points, ten rebounds, and two assists in 41 games – vying for (but not winning) the most improved player award.
Sure, Wood would not have fixed the whole ‘selecting a center’ issue with Cousins, but there is a non-zero chance a frontcourt between the two could have worked. Well, at least, before the trade (and injuries).