Los Angeles Lakers: Which players will improve the most next season?

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s been in the league for six seasons now, and during that time he’s performed at a sub-par level. His career metrics jump off the screen and yell, “I’m a bad shooter, and I’m a subpar defender.”

Here are KCP’s career stats:

• Field Goal Percentage: .412
• 3-Point Percentage: .345
• Defensive Rating: 109
• Defensive Box Plus/Minus: -0.2

There is hope for KCP. Last season he shot 87% from the charity stripe and free throw percentage is an excellent gage of what type of shooter a basketball player truly can become.

Here’s a great quote from www.basketball-reference.com’s Neil Paine that backs up this point:

"“I always felt that FT% is the best indicator of pure shooting form, since unless the player resorts to a gimmicky, Rick Barry-style approach, it’s just him, his mechanics, and a basket 15 feet away. Meanwhile, 3P% can be influenced by so many more factors, depending on the player’s style of play and/or role in the offense; for instance, look at Jason Kidd’s magical transformation from a guy nicknamed “Ason” to a 43% 3-point shooter (!!!) in Dallas. FT% is far less dependent on contextual effects, which seems to make it a better indicator of a player’s underlying skill.”"

Caldwell-Pope hasn’t shot the ball well from distance yet, but next season he’ll be 26-years-old and entering his prime. Plus, he’ll be playing for a championship-caliber team for the first time in his career, which will help KCP focus on playing winning basketball.

It’s easy to picture Kentavious settling into the 3-and-D role that he was born to play and to focus on hitting shots from deep, instead of trying to do more than he’s capable of, like taking two-dribble pull up jumpers from 20 feet. Next year Caldwell-Pope’s part as a 3-and-D specialist will be clearly defined, and his pure free throw stroke will finally translate into excellent 3-point shooting.

On defense, KCP struggled immensely in Luke Walton’s switch-heavy schemes. Kentavious, at 6′ 5″ is more than capable of containing opposing shooting guards from the perimeter. The area he struggled in over the last couple of seasons was when he was forced to switch onto larger players. Whenever the bulky forwards or centers who play throughout the NBA saw KCP shifted onto them, they immediately used their superior strength to either muscle by Caldwell-Pope and get to the rack or to abuse him in the post. That is the main reason why Kentavious’ defensive metrics have not been better.

Frank Vogel has never implemented the type of switch defense that Walton deployed. Instead, Vogel asks his players to stick to their assignments and fight through screens. KCP should perform much better next season under the Lakers new head coach because he’s quick enough on his feet to keep opposing 2’s in front of him and he has the length to bother his assignment from launching open shots off of a screen from beyond the arc.

KCP’s concentration waxed and waned through his two years on the Lakers, but next season look for him to finally put all of his excellent tools together. During the 2019-2020 season Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will shoot over 42% from distance and he’ll play the best defense of his career.