Willie Cauley-Stein's opportunity with the Philadelphia 76ers came and went. Last week, the Sixers were gearing up to start the remainder of their schedule after the week-long All-Star break.
Since the Sixers dished out their veteran backup center Andre Drummond in the deal that netted them Brooklyn Nets superstar James Harden, they've been on the hunt for additional help at the big man position.
The Sixers had a few potential Drummond replacements already on the roster. As they have the rookie center Charles Bassey, the second-year hybrid center/forward Paul Reed, and the former All-Star in Paul Millsap, Philadelphia had options.
However, they wanted to allow another veteran to showcase his skill set and potential value to the organization for this season. Therefore, the Sixers signed former Dallas Mavericks big man Willie Cauley-Stein to a ten-day contract.
Last Friday, Cauley-Stein made his Sixers debut. Cauley-Stein picked up some playing time as the Sixers were amid a blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He spent a little over four minutes on the court and collected two rebounds and one assist. Cauley-Stein was a plus-4 for the evening.
In the following game, Cauley-Stein didn't play against the New York Knicks. Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that would change moving forward.
"We didn't do enough in practice to see anything, honestly, but we do anticipate using him quickly," Rivers said earlier this week. "We just gotta see what he can do for us. We need a rim protector, and he can do that. He can supply that."
Rivers left many with the expectation that Cauley-Stein would see more significant playing time on Wednesday in the rematch against the Knicks, but his opportunity to play didn't come until garbage time.
Checking in for the final one minute and some change, Cauley-Stein made his first appearance on Wednesday late in the game as the Sixers were amid a blowout victory. At that point, it was clear that Cauley-Stein's ten-day contract was more than likely not going to be re-upped after it expired.
Cutting the Cord Early
The Sixers chose not to wait it out for the final few days of Cauley-Stein's stint. On Thursday, the team announced that they had released Cauley-Stein from the roster a few days before his ten-day contract expired.
Releasing the veteran center was a follow-up move to Philadelphia's acquisition of the veteran center, DeAndre Jordan. After Jordan went unclaimed on the waiver wire on Thursday, he immediately went ahead and inked a deal with Philadelphia.
Now, the Sixers will have to figure out who will be issued the backup center minutes among Bassey, Reed, Millsap, and Jordan moving forward.
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