3. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Now that Bradley is gone, the Laker that is most similar to his playing style is definitely Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. As a combo guard, he has the ability to defend either point or shooting guards, and like Bradley, he does not need to handle the ball on offense to be successful.
Perhaps that is the reason why head coach Frank Vogel inserted him into the starting lineup to replace Bradley when he was injured in the middle of the season. In the 20 games that KCP has started this season, the Lakers have won 17, and the three losses were all against playoff teams.
With his increased minutes in Bradley’s absence, Pope was able to average more points, assists, and rebounds while shooting a better three-point percentage. During that stretch of games that Bradley missed, he was also asked to guard the likes of Trae Young, Chris Paul, Ja Morant, Jamal Murray, and Damian Lillard and did a good enough job to help the Lakers get the win in all those games.
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KCP might not have the exact same defensive abilities as Bradley, but when comparing the two statistically they almost identical. Bradley averages 0.9 steals and 0.1 blocks per game and 1.4 defensive win shares per game. On the other hand, KCP averages 0.8 steals, 0.2 blocks per game, with 1.8 defensive win shares per game.
Pope is arguably an upgrade on offense as well, averaging almost a point better than him in regular points per game and per 36 minutes points per game. Weirdly enough, along with Kyle Kuzma, KCP is the longest-tenured Laker currently on the roster, and his familiarity everyone on the roster will help during the playoff run.