Backup shooting guard.
During the Lakers final preseason game against the Warriors, Frank Vogel rested every player in the regular rotation except for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Caruso. That game felt like one last audition for both players to make their case for the backup shooting guard position. Sadly, Caruso left the game early in the first quarter, so we didn’t get a chance to see the peculiar tryout Vogel set up for them.
Even though Caruso didn’t play, it was clear that KCP was going all out during the contest. He put up a decent stat line of 25 points, four rebounds, 0 assists, and one steal, to go along with four turnovers and a -3 net rating.
Even though KCP was trying his hardest during the Warriors game, his effort couldn’t mask the vital flaws that have continuously plagued Caldwell-Pope throughout his career. He still struggled in almost every facet of defense. He got burned on the perimeter time and time again by Curry and Russell. He doubled Warriors big men in the post when he didn’t have to. He was also late on many closeouts.
On offense, KCP had zero assists, showing once again that he isn’t capable of making his teammates better.
Caldwell-Pope has a career 34.5 3-point percentage, and he finished the preseason shooting exactly 34.5% from deep.
KCP finished last season 19th on the Lakers in defensive rating, and he ended the preseason 14th on the squad in DEFRTG.
It’s time for Lakers fans to accept that Caldwell-Pope isn’t the 3-and-D player we all hoped he’d be when he was signed a couple of years ago.
Frank Vogel should play Avery Bradley at the backup shooting guard position. At 6’2″ he’s an undersized 2, but he’ll defend opposing shooting guards better than KCP, and he won’t make the mental errors that always hurt Caldwell-Pope ability to perform well on the less glamorous side of the ball. Additionally, Bradley’s a much better 3-pointer shooter than KCP, and unlike Kentavious he can at least pass to an open teammate standing behind the arc.
Caldwell-Pope should cover the backup small forward position for the Lakers while Kyle Kuzma continues to recover from his ankle injury. Once Kuzma’s returns, KCP should only be given spot duty.
Bradley didn’t play great basketball during the preseason, but he showed enough on both sides of the ball to prove that he deserves a more meaningful role during the regular season than KCP.