Cauley-Stein gets his wind; peace of mind for McLemore

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SAN DIEGO -- The Sacramento Kings all but wrapped up training camp today on the UC San Diego campus. They will finish off with a walk through on Sunday morning before flying to Portland for Monday night’s preseason matchup against the Trail Blazers.

With the exception of a few minor aches and pains, the Kings escaped camp healthy. Rajon Rondo (sore sacrum) and Marco Belinelli (sore left hamstring) returned to practice after missing on Friday, and according to George Karl, they stood out in the scrimmage portion of practice.

[HAM: Kings notes: Rondo misses practice, but shows leadership]

The Kings continue to work at a fever pace and it’s only going to speed up as we build towards the regular season. The plan is to cut another four seconds off an already shortened 18-second shot clock. In order to accomplish this goal, the players have to get in premium shape first.

“A coach is never satisfied about the conditioning of his player,” Karl said. “They’re not in bad shape, but they’re not in good shape either yet.”

 

Sticking around

The Kings exercised their fourth-year option on shooting guard Ben McLemore. The 22-year-old out of Kansas took huge strides last season and hopes to do the same this year under Karl.

“I talked to Vlade (Divac) about it yesterday,” McLemore told CSN Bay Area. “He just told me to relax and go out there and play basketball. I’m very excited and thankful to have the opportunity to be a part of the Kings another year. I’m just very excited for the upcoming season and I want to continue to get better as a player and work on my game.”

McLemore started all 82 games last season for the Kings, averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 threes in 32.6 minutes a night.

 

Catching his breath

Willie Cauley-Stein had the dubious distinction of being one of the few players to come to camp out of shape. The sixth overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft is finally starting to get his wind as the team prepares to start their preseason schedule.

“I think I’m back to normal,” Cauley-Stein told CSN. “Two weeks from now it’s going to be fun. I’m going to be hydroplaning up and down the court. I’m not going to feel winded at all.”

“The first two or three days of camp, it was rough,” Cauley-Stein continued. “Two trips down the court, I was gasping for air.”

When pressed about his lack of conditioning coming into camp, the rookie admitted his mistake.

“I’m going to have a training camp before the training camp,” the rookie big said. “I won’t ever come back to training camp out of shape like that.”

 

Synergy with Reno

Reno Bighorns head coach David Arseneault Jr. has joined Karl’s coaching staff through camp and the 29-year-old is trying his best to be a sponge.

“It’s been fantastic,” Arseneault told CSN. “Coach Karl and his staff have welcomed me into the gym to be with the team and to learn from those guys. They have an incredible amount of knowledge and we’re trying to build the synergy between the two programs.”

There are plenty of players in camp with a legitimate chance of joining the Bighorns. David Stockton and Eric Moreland spent time with Arseneault last season and young players Duje Dukan, Vince Hunter and Marshall Henderson may find themselves in Reno after final cuts are announced later this month.

“I’m always taking a look,” Arsenault said of scouting the group of hopefuls.

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