4 players from the 2020 Lakers we wish were still on the team

By Jason Reed | Mar 6, 2022

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 11: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Quinn Cook #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers and teammates after winning the 2020 NBA Championship in Game Six of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

As frustrating as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be at points, he was still a very important player on the Los Angeles Lakers. Quite frankly, Laker fans probably did not appreciate what KCP was bringing to the team as a defender and a three-point shooter.

KCP was not an all-around lockdown defender but he represented one of several solid perimeter defenders that the team had on the roster. This year’s team is really bad defensively and is lacking quality perimeter defenders.

The best perimeter defenders the team has is probably Avery Bradley, Stanley Johnson and Talen Horton-Tucker. KCP is better than all three of those players when it comes to perimeter defense and is certainly better offensively. All three are really inefficient offensively.

Keeping KCP obviously could have been easy… all the team had to do was not trade for Russell Westbrook! Heck, the reported trade for Buddy Hield that never was was going to include Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma. If the Lakers do that trade instead they still have KCP.

KCP would instantly be the best all-around guard on this team and that is saying something about the status of the Lakers.

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