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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 06-04-2015, 11:29 AM:

He has the makings a very talented NBA player.

Shooting, passing, ball handling and post moves were in. An opportunity for Cauley-Stein — possibly the best defender in this draft, but perceived to be offensively challenged — to prove his defensive mettle against former teammate Towns was out.

Cauley-Stein had a good day anyway.

"I thought he was really impressive," said DraftExpress.com's Jonathan Givony, one of the few analysts invited to the workout. "I came away pleasantly surprised."

A DraftExpress scouting breakdown earlier this year mentioned the former Wildcat's shooting stroke as a "strength" to his game, even if UK fans rarely got to see it outside of pregame warm-ups.

So Givony knew Cauley-Stein could shoot. He just didn't know he could shoot like he did Monday, when he was draining jumpers from all over the floor in a variety of ways.

"Just to see him knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer — that I wasn't really prepared for," he said.

It will be a comforting thought for whichever team selects Cauley-Stein in the NBA Draft. His showing in Monday's workout won't change the immediate expectations, which are almost entirely on the defensive end. But it did prove there could be more to Cauley-Stein's game down the road.

"There's a difference between hitting that shot by yourself in a gym and doing it in a game with a defender on you and all that pressure," Givony said. "But that's how guys become shooters. They work on it by themselves, and they get more comfortable with it in the game setting. I think what this means to me is that he has the potential to develop into that."

Another attribute on full display Monday was Cauley-Stein's elite athleticism, a major part of what makes him such a great defender.

He has often been compared to one-time NBA defensive player of the year Tyson Chandler, though former UCLA star big man Don MacLean — who was responsible for running Monday's workout — said Cauley-Stein is much more athletic than Chandler has ever been.

MacLean compared him to Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, a first-team all-NBA defender this season and a player whose uber-athletic dunks and blocked shots have left fans shaking their heads in disbelief over the past few years.

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[ 06-04-2015, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]