Cauley-Stein clarifies ‘ready to get paid’ comment, says he’d love to stay with Kings

Willie Cauley-Stein had a lot to say about how he wants to grow in the Kings’ offense, but the big man also went on the defensive Wednesday over recent remarks about his salary.

“I think that got put out of context a little bit. It made it look like I was just worried about this money,” Cauley-Stein said after training camp practice at Golden 1 Center.

Cauley-Stein enters his fourth NBA season still on his rookie contract after being drafted No. 6 overall by the Kings in 2015. He’s scheduled to make nearly $4.7 million this season, and Sacramento would need to issue a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent next offseason.

In a story that was published Tuesday, he told NBC Sports California’s James Ham during the team’s media day on Monday: “I’m ready to get paid. ... That’s what type of focus I’m on.”

Cauley-Stein clarified those comments Wednesday.

“I meant that in a sense of, ‘What do I need to do to get that?’ Not that, ‘Oh, I deserve to get this,’” he said with some added passion in his voice toward the end of the eight-minute session.

“Tell me what you need me to do to get that, and I’m gonna go get it done,” he added in reference to talks with management.

“I really believe this is my time to let it go, release myself to the game, stop thinking so much and just play in oblivion.”

He said he wants to “dominate both sides of the floor” and that management made it clear to him what he needs to do. He hopes he can continue his career with the Kings — “Oh I love it here. If it’s here, hell yeah!” — and enjoys the camaraderie within the locker room.

“This group of guys is the best I’ve been with in a long time,” he said. “It’s fresh to go to work. It used be a hassle, ‘Man we’ve got to come here, we’re going to bulls--- for two hours.’ Now we’re here, we’re getting down, we’re working, we get in and get out. It’s like what the best teams in the league are doing.”

Cauley-Stein averaged 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, both career highs, in 73 games. He had 11 20-point games and 12 double-doubles, but he struggled with consistency.

He said that was a goal of his this season, and he’s excited about his role in the offense.

“I feel like last year was my first real year and have reps at it,” he said. “I built a lot off of last year just because of the freedom I had offensively and the trust that they had that I was going to make plays. ... The only thing now I want for myself is I want them to believe that I can make plays (and) when I have the ball, something good is going to happen.”

He credits training, both in the offseason and even in the first few days of training camp, for being in better shape.

“I can tell the difference in my body. By the second day last year, it was legs are hurting, back is hurting,” he said. “A lot of us came into training camp in (much better) shape, me included.”

Part of what’s different for the team this year is a lot of running at camp. According to Cauley-Stein, the amount is high, even for the veterans.

“This is not normal. This is not what a lot of teams do,” he said.

It could be a preview for how the Kings want to play this season. Cauley-Stein says he’s ready.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 7:13 PM.