New Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, is looking forward to seeing, and playing, with Lonzo Ball.
The Los Angeles Lakers were relatively quiet in free agency. They have their eyes set on bigger prizes next year, so this offseason was more about adding to the young core and clearing cap. The Lakers were able to do that while still upgrading the current roster.
The biggest move the Lakers made in free agency was signing shooting guard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The only other free agency moves the Lakers made were retaining their own players; all other additions came prior to and during the 2017 NBA Draft.
The one that has fans most excited was the selection of Lonzo Ball. The Lakers selected the star UCLA point guard with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Lakers management didn’t waste time anointing Ball as the starting point guard and face of the franchise.
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The addition of Ball has brought a ton of attention on the Lakers. Los Angeles was already a popular team, so adding a polarizing player such as Ball has just heightened that. Ball is a supremely popular player among his teammates and others around the league.
Metta World Peace is high on him, saying he will win a title in two-four seasons. His teammates love his work ethic and he has been predicted to win the Rookie of the Year award for the 2017-18 season. Lakers management has not held back either, as Jeannie Buss compared Ball to Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, two of the greatest Lakers in franchise history.
Those are some high expectations for a rookie, but Ball looks like a special player. He dominated the Las Vegas Summer League, taking home MVP honors despite missing two games. Ball’s playing style should raise the level of his teammates around him, and they are excited to get things going.
One player, in particular, that is ready to play with Ball is Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Lakers as a free agent this offseason after the Detroit Pistons renounced his rights.
It is a great deal for both sides. The Lakers do not eat into their future cap space and filled holes based on Caldwell-Pope’s skill set; his strength is three-point shooting and defense, arguably the biggest weaknesses for the Lakers last season.
While speaking Uninterrupted’s Open Run podcast with Jesse Williams and Stefan Marolachakis, Caldwell-Pope discussed how excited he was to see Ball on the court and play alongside him.
"“I’m looking forward to playing with him. I watched him in Summer League, how he plays, how he passes the ball, the way he sees the floor and stuff like that. I’m just looking forward to it […] I can just tell by watching how much fun [the Summer League team] was having, how the ball was moving, the bench getting into it. I can just see it from there how amazing he is and how great we’re gonna be this year.”"
We saw Ball’s skill set on full display in Las Vegas. A lot of people are itching at the chance to see him alongside his NBA teammates. Caldwell-Pope is one of those players and he is a great fit alongside Ball.
Caldwell-Pope will take a lot of pressure off Ball defensively. Offensively, he will help spread the court and give Ball more options to kick it out to when he attacks the basket. The new look Lakers backcourt should play very well off each other. However, we will have to wait a little while to see it in full action.
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Caldwell-Pope will miss the first two games of the season because of a league-mandated suspension. After that, it will be all systems go.