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Los Angeles Lakers: Why re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is excellent

By Daniel Preciado

Oct 9, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) and forward LeBron James (23) go for the ball during the third quarter against the Miami Heat in game five of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) and forward LeBron James (23) go for the ball during the third quarter against the Miami Heat in game five of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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(Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Familiarity with the Los Angeles Lakers

The first key reason why Kentavious Caldwell-Pope coming back to the Lakers is a good thing for the team is the familiarity aspect. KCP has been with the Lakers since the rebuild and has pretty much seen the Lakers go from awful to mediocre to holding the Larry O’Brien trophy.

He’s ‘been through it’ across his Lakers tenure. LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the men who need to be appeased most on the roster, seem to really enjoy having Caldwell-Pope around. Especially given his excellent playoff performance in the bubble a few months ago, how could he not be brought back?

Caldwell-Pope is still quite young — just 27 years of age — and actually might have a second gear that we have not seen yet. In the present, he is very much an average player, but if the Lakers give him a little more run, he might be able to work wonders on the roster.

His surface-level numbers declined in 2019-2020, but that’s largely a by-product of playing with Anthony Davis and LeBron James and becoming a spot-up shooter for the most part.

Caldwell-Pope had more double-digit point games than any Lakers in the playoffs outside of the obvious duo. He also shot 37.8 percent from beyond the arc, shooting even better than that in the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets and the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.

The Lakers already know how to use Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in defensive schemes and rotations, making life a lot easier for second-year coach Frank Vogel.

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