It is difficult to separate Willie Cauley-Stein as a prospect from Willie Cauley-Stein as a concept.

Unlike most other prospects, it has to start defensively for Cauley-Stein as he’s truly a special player with how multi-dimensional he operates on that end of the floor. Cauley-Stein is as adept defending on the perimeter as he is in the paint and that’s of course an all-important component of being a complete defensive player in a five-out, pick-and-roll NBA. Cauley-Stein has once a generation agility and work rate at seven feet to completely transform a team’s defensive identity. 

If Kawhi Leonard was a seven-footer, that’s Cauley-Stein on defense. If Cauley-Stein were a soccer player, he would be a world-class goalie. We’ve all probably seen footage of Cauley-Stein looking like an exaggerated version of Jimmy Graham dominating high school football games as a wide receiver. The baseline-to-baseline defense against Jerian Grant in the final seconds of the Elite-8 was an instant classic moment and a microcosm of what he can do against smaller offensive players.

Cauley-Stein had fairly human block rates as a freshman and junior when sharing the floor for a considerable amount of time with Nerlens Noel and Karl-Anthony Towns, but it did jump to 12.2 as a sophomore with Julius Randle. Cauley-Stein isn’t the same force as a help shotblocker or in defending a post player his size or who is as strong at this point.

The quickness he shows in defending the perimeter becomes an issue on the defensive glass where he lacks the bulk and strength to fight for 50/50 rebounds. You really can’t have it both ways and with the way league is trending, his usage rate so to speak defending the pick and roll will be far higher than it will be defending post players actually capable of exploiting that matchup before he fills out.

Cauley-Stein has shown considerable improvement as a shooter since first arriving at Kentucky with his free throw percentage jumping from 37.2 percent to 48.2 and 61.7 percent. The workouts have confirmed this to some extent and there is a fluidity to his mechanics that indicate he’ll get even better in an NBA program where he develops consistency. Unless it were to unravel for Cauley-Stein mentally, in no way is he a net negative on offense or a hack-a candidate.

Cauley-Stein’s offensive game will fit into a narrow box of finishing at the rim out of the pick and roll and in transition, as well as the occasional jumper. Asking him to go to work in the low post is unlikely to ever be a viable option, nor will he be a playmaker as a passer. His quickness and agility is his greatest attribute similarly as a finisher as it is on defense. Cauley-Stein is more about beating the defense to a spot or to the rim than he is about absorbing the contact and still finishing strong.

The questions with Cauley-Stein are how much is his unique type of elite defense worth in a deep draft, along with whether he’ll give you enough on offense and if he’s committed to the game since he has the ‘audacity’ to have interests outside of basketball. With a transcendent, on-trend, NBA-ready skill, there is very little to be gambling upon if the medical aspects are fine.