Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope enjoyed beating his former team, the Detroit Pistons, on Tuesday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers picked up an impressive victory over the Detroit Pistons on Halloween. The Lakers blew out the Pistons, winning by 20 points in front of the fans at the STAPLES Center.
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Los Angeles, while it snapped the Pistons’ three-game winning streak and ended their west coast trip on a low note.
While it was a great team victory for the young Lakers, as the Pistons came in on fire and were tied atop the Eastern Conference, it had a little more meaning for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope began his NBA career with the Pistons. Detroit selected him eighth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft out of Georgia. He spent the first four seasons of his career in Detroit before signing with the Lakers in free agency.
Los Angeles Lakers
Players switch teams in free agency every year, but how Caldwell-Pope landed in Los Angeles was unconventional. Caldwell-Pope began the offseason as a restricted free agent, limiting his options. Teams are usually not aggressive in chasing restricted free agents, as their original teams have a chance to match the offer sheet.
Signing a player to an offer sheet could stall a team’s offseason plans as they wait for an official decision to be made. All it takes is for one team to send that offer sheet, and Caldwell-Pope was hoping to land a max-contract offer. Unfortunately for Caldwell-Pope, that contract never came.
Caldwell-Pope waited things out, but an offer never came. The Pistons also made moves at his position, signing Langston Galloway and trading for Avery Bradley. Luke Kennard was also selected in the 2017 NBA Draft.
As a result, the Pistons renounced Caldwell-Pope’s rights, making him an unrestricted free agent. However, by that time in the offseason, many teams had already used their cap space. The Lakers took advantage, signing Caldwell-Pope to a one-year, $18 million deal to be their starting shooting guard.
You can understand why Caldwell-Pope had a little more motivation to win the game against the Pistons, and his teammates stepped up to help accomplish that. Caldwell-Pope enjoyed playing against and beating his old team. saying it was fun.
"“It was fun. I knew they were going to come out here and be competitive and I just wanted to get my team ready and play the same way, and we did that tonight.”"
The Lakers were certainly ready, as the 20 point win was their biggest margin of victory on the season. The previous two wins on the season each came by one basket.
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Caldwell-Pope and the Lakers are hoping they have more games like this during the season. It would benefit both, as Caldwell-Pope can boost his value before hitting free agency again and the Lakers will be a more attractive landing spot for free agents as well.