The Los Angeles Lakers re-signed free agent shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Here are three reasons his signing was a good one.
The Los Angeles Lakers, to date, have signed four free agents to one-year contracts, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. It is their stated plan is to maintain maximum salary flexibility so they can sign at least one more major free agent a year from now.
The agreement with KCP was publicized almost immediately following the announcement that LeBron James was joining the Lakers. Since the two share the same agent, there has been speculation that could have had some possible impact on the team’s decision to re-sign KCP.
But Caldwell-Pope, who is in line to reclaim his place as the Lakers starting shooting guard, merited consideration all on his own. It’s also likely that KCP will have the biggest positive impact during the 2018-19 season of any of the Lakers free agents not named LeBron.
Here are the three main reasons why he deserved to be re-signed:
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1. Three-Point Shooting
The Lakers converted just 34.5 percent of their 3-point shots this past season, ranking next-to-last in the NBA. Clearly, it’s an area where improvement is needed.
Enter KCP, who shot a very respectable 38.3 percent from deep, which ranked third on the team and represented a career-high. He tied for the overall team lead on 3’s made with Kyle Kuzma, who took 19 more attempts.
Even more impressively, in his final 47 games, after he had resolved some personal difficulties and gotten more accustomed to his teammates, KCP shot a sterling 41.7 percent on 3’s. He also sank eight 3-pointers in a single game twice. The only Laker to make more in a game is Kobe Bryant.
The team basically played a wide-open offense last season. The scoring load was shared by nearly everyone on the court as 7 players averaged double-figure points per game. Defenses seldom focused on or double-teamed any one particular Laker player.
The presence of James in the lineup means that things will change this coming season. Because LeBron will command so much defensive attention, KCP and other Laker wings should undoubtedly have many more open looks this season. It is not unreasonable to assume that KCP will shoot 40 percent or higher from beyond the 3-point line.