Willie Cauley-Stein puts Rudy Gobert on a poster (Video)

Willie Cauley-Stein almost had a fantastic dunk tonight against the Utah Jazz.

Willie Cauley-Stein, a center for the Sacramento Kings, almost had the dunk of the year tonight over the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert.

Cauley-Stein set a screen for his point guard, Ty Lawson, and Lawson was able to dribble around his defender, George Hill. Gobert then slid over to help out his teammate on defense and left Stein open to run towards the rim. Lawson gave Stein a picture-perfect bounce pass as Stein caught it in stride and was able to gather himself before his dunk attempt.

Stein took his two steps and jumped towards the rim even though he was outside of the ring under the rim. Gobert was able to recover and guard Stein, but he got there just a second too late. Stein launched and attacked the rim disregarding Gobert’s attempt to block his shot.

Gobert got to Stein just in time to prevent the dunk but did foul Stein on his way up to the rim. The ball hit the front of the rim and did not roll in the Kings favor as it rolled to the left away from the rim. To put the icing on the cake, Stein made both of his free throws.

Unfortunately for the Kings, they lost to a tip from Rudy Gobert, with the final scoring coming out to be 110-109 in the Jazz’s favor.

Next: Willie-Cauley Stein is a good substitute

Stein had a good game, totaling 15 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. The Kings are still trying to find their identity after losing DeMarcus Cousins in the infamous trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. Stein gives the Kings hope. A young and athletic center has quite a bit of potential but has not had the minutes to show what he is capable of doing. Now with a Cousins-less Kings, Stein can find some footing and show why he belongs.