Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a good move

2. Defense

The Lakers front office has said they want to emphasize defense this coming season. But it can be very difficult to rate a player statistically on his defensive proficiency, especially a shooting guard.

Rebounds and blocked shots, frequently used as measures for big men, don’t tell a good story about the defense played by SG’s, although KCP did average a strong-for-his-position 5.2 boards a game last season.

Steals can sometimes be useful (KCP averaged a good 1.1 SPG), as can more advanced stats like plus/minus performance or defensive win shares, but none really show whether or not a player is a lockdown man defender. And that is even more true for a player like KCP who usually guards the opponent’s top offensive threat.

So perhaps the best way to judge Caldwell-Pope’s defensive impact is the good old eye test. By looking at him in action, anyone should be able to see just how effectively he defends his opponent.

And when you watch KCP you can see that he is indeed a first-rate defender. He occasionally gets hurt when he gambles for a steal and comes up short, but he uses his size and strength (6-5, 205) to consistently make the man he’s guarding work hard to get his shot. He is also a good team defender, switching men as needed and defending against the ball as well as his man.

Although he’s never been voted onto the NBA All-Defensive teams, he is still regarded throughout the league as a top-notch, tough defender. As such, he fits well into the Lakers defensive plan.