Los Angeles Lakers: Grading the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signing
How did the deal between the Los Angeles Lakers and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope grade out?
The Los Angeles Lakers took a while to jump into free agency. The Lakers didn’t agree to a deal with anyone during the moratorium period despite meeting with multiple players. Earlier this week, the Lakers finally got on the board.
Late Monday night, early Tuesday morning, the Lakers agreed to a one-year deal with shooting guard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope will earn $18 million in his one-year deal, as the Lakers convinced him to take a one-year balloon deal.
It was the type of contract that the Lakers were floating all offseason. Los Angeles wants to keep their salary cap clean beyond this season, so they were only offering one-year deals. Many players were not interested in that kind of deal, but the Lakers took advantage of the market to snag Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope entered the offseason as a restricted free agent. The Detroit Pistons reportedly offered him a five-year, $80 million deal, but he declined. He was hoping to land a max contract offer sheet. That offer sheet never came.
Los Angeles Lakers
As the offseason continued, the Pistons decided to change their roster. With the 12th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Pistons selected shooting guard Luke Kennard. Combo guard Langston Galloway was signed to a three-year deal, and then the Pistons traded for Avery Bradley from the Boston Celtics for Marcus Morris.
With so many new additions and the team being hard-capped, the Pistons renounced the rights to Caldwell-Pope. With it being so late in free agency, there were not many teams with cap space left. As a result, the Lakers were able to take advantage of the market for a deal that was great for both sides.
For Caldwell-Pope this deal makes sense for a few reasons. For one, he will be earning $18 million. That is a nice chunk of change. While it doesn’t provide long-term security, he will earn more this season than the contract with the Pistons would have paid him.
Caldwell-Pope will not only earn a lot of money this year but will be able to re-enter free agency next offseason again. He will have another opportunity to showcase his talent and possibly land the long-term deal he was seeking this offseason. Landing with the Lakers provides him an excellent opportunity to improve his stock.
For the Lakers, Caldwell-Pope is a perfect fit. This is a great deal for them. They keep their future salary cap flexibility but land a player that will help immensely.
Caldwell-Pope’s strengths right now are defense and three-point shooting. Coincidentally, those are arguably the two weakest parts of the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope will immediately step into the starting lineup and provide the Lakers with just what they need.
Caldwell-Pope is a perfect fit for this current Lakers group. He will take pressure off of Lonzo Ball in the backcourt, as he will be able to defend the top backcourt player on opposing teams. That will help the Lakers as a whole, as they will not be as easily beaten on the perimeter.
Caldwell-Pope will also help space the floor for Ball to operate. With Caldwell-Pope and Brook Lopez, the Lakers now have two legitimate floor spacers in their starting lineup. Brandon Ingram hopes to help space the floor this season as he worked on his jumper all offseason. That would give Julius Randle more room to operate from the elbow and on the block.
All in all, this is a win-win for both the Lakers and Caldwell-Pope. The Lakers filled their biggest needs but stuck to their guns about their payroll. Caldwell-Pope lands with a team that needs his skill set and has an opportunity to really break the bank next offseason again as a free agent.
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Grade: A