A ton has been made about the Sacramento Kings’ strong 8-6 start, and much of the credit has been attributed to their talented young backcourt in De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, and deservedly so. But what’s gone under the radar is the impact of center Willie Cauley-Stein.

Cauley-Stein, only in his fourth NBA season but still the current longest-tenured King, came out before the season stating that he is “ready to get paid” and will do what it takes to get him there. And though many Kings fans were skeptical of this boldness as such quotes aren’t exactly anything new from him, the 25 year old big man has delivered.

WCS is posting career highs in points (16.8), rebounds (8.2), fg% and efg% (both 58%) in only a small uptick in minutes compared to last year.

But much more important is how he’s getting those high percentage shots that’s enabling the Kings’ offense to thrive.