10. Willie Cauley-Stein
Previous Rank: Unranked
The Sacramento Kings have more or less obliterated their playoff chances as losers of their past five games — with plenty of internal turmoil in the process.
Willie Cauley-Stein is starting to make the statistic-less impact that most knew he would coming out of Kentucky. His mobility has helped the Kings little though, with the team not really communicating defensively.
At this point, though, Cauley-Stein is capable of creating offense right at the rim on alley oops and second-chance buckets. In the Kings last two games he is averaging 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while having come up with three blocks/steals in those losses. The Kings have realized, once again, that having a talented team on paper ensures little in the NBA.
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Cauley-Stein may forever be a player whose contributions do not impact the stat sheet much, but he has shown his potential even if the rest of the team has more or less mailed it in.
The Kings are 25-40 and, at this point, George Karl has to be mystified that the roster cannot generate better play than it has.