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

4. His defense

No, KCP isn’t the second coming of Bruce Bowen. But he can be effective at that end of the floor.

He may not be the greatest individual defender in the league, but he at least brings the effort in that department.

But his greatest value on the defensive end may be as a team defender. He seems to have good instincts as far as anticipating telegraphed passes, which allows him to get into the passing lanes and force turnovers or even get steals himself.

With Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee manning the middle for the purple and gold and protecting the rim, their guards should now have the luxury of playing their man more aggressively. That will allow them to get into the passing lanes more often, going for more deflections and trapping and pressing more often.

In the 2017-18 season, he averaged 1.4 steals per game, which was 25th in the league. In four of his six seasons in the league, he has averaged at least 1.1 steals per game, and in the other two seasons, he still managed 0.9 steals a game.

Per 36 minutes, his career average is 1.4 steals per game. Not too bad, right?

Again, KCP may never be voted onto an All-Defensive team, but surely he’s at least a little better than the average NBA player on defense, and that’s nothing to complain about when it’s not even his primary skill or talent.