Willie Cauley-Stein Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Report: 76ers signing C Willie Cauley-Stein to 10-day contract

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 2/23/22

When the Philadelphia 76ers finally made the move to trade enigmatic point guard Ben Simmons at the NBA trade deadline earlier this month, they also said goodbye to sharpshooting guard Seth Curry and center Andre Drummond. The departure of Drummond left a hole on the second unit down low.

The Sixers are reportedly bringing in a former lottery pick to, at least temporarily, fill that gap behind big man and MVP contender Joel Embiid.

Sixers will be signing free agent 7 foot center

Willie Cauley Stein on 10 day contract, source tells me

He played in Sacramento under Sixers assistant coach Dave Joerger

https://t.co/RUHfJBs5gZ
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 23, 2022

After three solid seasons with the Kentucky Wildcats, Cauley-Stein was selected sixth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2015 NBA Draft. Behind averages of 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 block per game across 66 contests, Cauley-Stein earned Second-Team All-Rookie honors.

The 28-year-old averaged a career-high 12.8 points and 2.4 assists (along with 7.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game) during his third year in the league, but after four seasons in Sacramento, Cauley-Stein signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors in July 2019. He split the 2019-2020 campaign between the Warriors and Dallas Mavericks and has been with Dallas since then.

In 18 games (two starts) with the Mavericks this season, Cauley-Stein averaged just 1.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 9.8 minutes per contest.

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