Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can help team

The Los Angeles Lakers brought Kentavious Caldwell-Pope back this offseason. Here are five reasons he can help the team win.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a strong first season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017-18 but was wildly inconsistent and ineffective for much of this past season. Still, his return should be helpful for the team.

When the Lakers announced they had signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in early July, the reaction among fans was not exactly uniformly positive. For one, he didn’t play well for much of the 2018-19 season, and only started to perform up to his capability towards the end of the season, when all was already lost.

For another, he signed a two-year deal that was worth just over $16 million, which equates to a little over $8 million a year. Most Lakers fans felt that was too much, even if he played up to his capability all the time.

As a reference point, the average NBA salary this past season was about $6.15 million according to Basketball-Reference.com.

However, it can be argued that in 2017-18, KCP’s first season with the purple and gold, he was at least slightly better than the average NBA player. That year, he averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 38.3 percent from downtown.

One of the strengths the Lakers are expected to have this upcoming season is their depth. That depth will be especially prevalent in their backcourt, where they will likely have seven guys who can come in and contribute in a positive way: KCP, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, Alex Caruso and Rajon Rondo.

Yes, KCP can be a little up and down, but when he’s on a good streak, he’s one of the better guards the team can boast for these reasons.