Los Angeles Lakers: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ready to face former team
By Nick Ziegler
On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers will be playing the Detroit Pistons. For Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, it’s a matchup against his former team.
One of the most surprising moves for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason was them being able to sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Due to Caldwell-Pope being a young, restricted free agent, it was assumed that he wouldn’t be an option for the Lakers, who didn’t want to sign players to more than a one-year deal.
However, the Pistons ended up making a trade with the Boston Celtics for Avery Bradley, and then rescinded the rights to Caldwell-Pope, making him an unrestricted free agent. Since it was a little late in the free agency period, options were limited for Caldwell-Pope.
The Lakers did come in with a creative and appealing offer. Since they had a good amount of cap space, the Lakers offered Caldwell-Pope a deal worth about $18 million for one season. With a chance to play in Los Angeles for a hefty sum, Caldwell-Pope agreed.
On Monday, Caldwell-Pope will be playing in Detroit for the first time since the trade. Recently, he spoke with Bill Oram of the Southern California New Group about his return to Detroit. Like all returning players, Caldwell-Pope will be curious if he is cheered or booed.
"“I even asked my wife that,” Caldwell-Pope said Saturday. “I was like, ‘What you think? Will they boo me or give me a standing ovation?’ I don’t know. So, hopefully, it’s not a boo, but if so, then it is what it is.”"
It is hard to imagine that Caldwell-Pope will be booed during introductions by the fans in Detroit, as he was traded by the team rather than leaving as a free agent. So far this season, Caldwell-Pope has played well for the Lakers.
As advertised, he is a very good defensive player, and he has also had career-highs in shooting percentage from the field and 3-point range. While he does make the occasional poor decision on the court, Caldwell-Pope has been a good addition for the Lakers.
With the Lakers being short-handed still against the Pistons, expect to see Caldwell-Pope playing close to 40 minutes against his former team. In somewhat of a revenge game for him, Caldwell-Pope will have the chance to prove his former team wrong for trading him.