No. 1: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
The player the Lakers will be relying upon the most to replace Josh Hart is the player who is most similar to him on the roster in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Hart and Caldwell-Pope are similar sized and bring similar skills to the court.
Without Hart, Caldwell-Pope will be relied upon again as the top perimeter defender on the team. This is important, as the other backcourt options who will see an uptick in playing time, such as Isaiah Thomas, are not good defenders. Caldwell-Pope could play more than the 31.9 minutes per game that he averaged throughout February.
Caldwell-Pope is playing some great basketball right now, and it could not have come at a better time. One of the best skills that Hart brings to the table is his rebounding. The Lakers have excellent rebounding guards in Hart and Lonzo Ball, and Caldwell-Pope has turned it up in that department as well.
Caldwell-Pope averaged 7.0 rebounds per game in February. Only Julius Randle and Hart averaged more, pulling down 9.0 and 7.4 respectively. Keeping up the rebounding production would greatly help the Lakers replace the work that Hart puts in on the glass.
Caldwell-Pope is also shooting the ball well, knocking down multiple 3-pointers in six of seven games. That includes an eight 3-pointer explosion against the Kings last weekend.
That is the Caldwell-Pope the Lakers need in the coming weeks. With Hart sidelined, Caldwell-Pope needs to keep up his strong play.
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Consistency has been an issue for Caldwell-Pope this season, as off-court issues weighed on him. With those issues behind him, Caldwell-Pope has been able to focus solely on the basketball court, and the results have been positive. Los Angeles is hoping those positive results continue.