Kings training camp is underway, and while the addition of Dennis Schroder is the most notable, another player is making waves for his physical style of play.
Sacramento signed Dylan Cardwell to a two-way contract in June after the former Auburn product went undrafted, and he has impressed Kings coach Doug Christie as well as his teammate Zach LaVine with his physicality.
“I love Dylan,” LaVine said Tuesday. “Dylan’s been really big for us. I like him because he’s a little bit of an enforcer, he’s aggressive, he’ll hit somebody if he needs to — not physically, but you know. I like his attitude. … If somebody fouls me, I want him to put somebody on the ground.”
That attitude LaVine mentioned is one of the main reasons why Christie’s been impressed with the 23-year-old rookie.
“His level of physicality and commitment to being coached, his ability to rebound the basketball, he sets incredible screens,” Christie said. “Went through some video with him… I want him to do this then they went back, they watched video and then the other day I’m watching the film like, ‘Man, he did it’. …
“He’s just an extremely coachable kid, plays extremely hard and there’s a level of physicality that he has that you don’t really teach it, you’re either about that life or you ain’t.”
It seems Cardwell is definitely about that life, and if he continues to show out at training camp, there could be a chance of seeing him on the floor for Sacramento this season.
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