Other film sessions: Jahlil Okafor | Karl-Anthony Towns | D'Angelo Russell
Stanley Johnson | Emmanuel Mudiay
The NBA is a league of specialists.
There are 25 or so great multiskilled players, commonly known as the superstars. Everyone else is a role player, and that is not meant to be a condemnation.
There are great players in the NBA who do one or two things well enough to be thought of as stars or, at worst, very good players. Kyle Korver is one of the league's best shooters. Tony Allen has carved out a 12-season NBA career as an elite wing defender.
To be effective in a meaningful NBA game, a player has to be very good at something.
Which brings us to Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein. His stock is on the rise, in part, because many NBA teams see an elite athlete with 7-foot size, a 7-2 wingspan and the ability to be an excellent defensive big man who can guard multiple positions in multiple defensive schemes. In short, he is a defensive playmaker.