Los Angeles Lakers rumors continue to pop up as the NBA Trade Deadline approaches, with this one including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jabari Parker.
Recently, Los Angeles Lakers rumors have been dominated by Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans. However, the potential blockbuster with the Pelicans is reportedly not the only deal that the Lakers are working on.
With the NBA Trade Deadline just two days away, this should not come as a surprise. Los Angeles should be working multiple angles, looking for any way to improve the roster. One player to keep an eye on being shipped out of Los Angeles is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope has been in trade rumors essentially since he was eligible to be traded back in December. When the Lakers engaged the Phoenix Suns in trade talks for Trevor Ariza, Caldwell-Pope was the rumored player to be on the move.
With Phoenix having no interest in KCP, the Houston Rockets emerged as a potential suitor for the former Georgia product. However, there were multiple reasons for motivation for Caldwell-Pope to be moved.
More from Lake Show Life
- Darvin Ham adds to Max Christie hype train after Lakers preseason opener
- Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest Lakers vs Warriors update
- Can Darvin Ham put all of the Lakers puzzle pieces together?
- Lakers news: Darvin Ham knows his fifth starter, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino praise
- Michael Malone’s painfully ironic comment has Lakers fans heated
One was monetary. Caldwell-Pope has a trade kicker in his contract, so he would actually get paid more should he have been moved. The second reason was that he and his representatives wanted him to land in a spot that would result in more consistent playing time.
As a result, it was actually Caldwell-Pope and his camp pushing for a trade to be completed. Caldwell-Pope remains on the team, but that could change before Thursday. One potential landing spot is with the Chicago Bulls.
According to Brian Windhorst on “The Hoop Collective” podcast, Caldwell-Pope could be on the move in a trade package for Jabari Parker.
"“Caldwell-Pope is available and has been floated out there for some spots. One place that they have talked to – I’m not saying this deal’s going to get done – but one place that they have talked to is Chicago for Jabari Parker.”"
Whatever the Lakers motivation behind making this deal is, they should re-think it. While Caldwell-Pope isn’t having as good of a second season in Los Angeles as his first one, he is still a more useful player than Parker would be.
For starters, this would further unbalance the roster. The Lakers are already deep in the frontcourt, specifically at power forward, where Parker would probably be getting his minutes. Parker also isn’t much of a floor spacer, which is Caldwell-Pope’s strength.
Parker has also made some interesting comments in the past about defense. He was not lying about that, as his defensive rating, according to Basketball-Reference, is 112 this season. That kind of performance on defense would be a disaster as the Lakers have struggled with inconsistency on that end of the court.
This could all be a play by Rich Paul, Caldwell-Pope’s agent, to keep him in a big city that he could receive extended playing time on. Paul has been a big part of Lakers rumors recently, as he is also the agent for Anthony Davis and is best friends with LeBron James.
While Paul would like to do best by his client, this one seems like a long shot. Acquiring Parker does little to help the Lakers, and it would cost more than just KCP as their contracts don’t match up.
With so much attention being focused on Davis, finding the extra money to send to Chicago to make this work is not an easy task. This is something to keep an eye on, but if Caldwell-Pope is traded, it is unlikely to be for a player such as Parker.