Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking each player of the newly constructed roster
By Jason Reed
6. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is paid like he is the third-best player on the Los Angeles Lakers but I have him here at sixth. Sometimes in the NBA you have to overpay to keep your guy and that is what the Lakers did with KCP, although they did not fully restrict themselves with his contract.
KCP signed a three-year, $39.1 million contract that could only end up being a two-year contract for the Lakers as that third year is not fully guaranteed. That opens the door for the team to easily trade KCP in the future if needed as the perfect “in-between” contract to get a deal done.
That is why I like the signing so much and why it is okay to slightly overpay for KCP. Plus, he kind of earned it. He stuck with the team during their dark years, awaiting LeBron James and eventually Anthony Davis and then really showed up in the NBA Playoffs with some big performances.
He is nothing more than your typical three and D role player and I would not expect anything more than what he contributed last season. You know exactly what you are going to get with KCP and while it might not be elite play it is still really valuable.