There was concern among Los Angeles Lakers fans that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could end up leaving in free agency, but that did not happen.
KCP is returning to the Lakers on a three-year, $40 million deal, Shams Charania reported on Saturday.
The 27-year-old shooting guard is entering his eighth season in the NBA and originally signed with the Lakers before the 2017-2018 season. He set the stage for Klutch Sports clients to flock to the team, as LeBron James signed with the Lakers a year later.
Caldwell-Pope averaged 9.3 points in 25.5 minutes per game last season and made 38.5 percent of his threes. He averaged 10.7 points per game in the postseason.
Caldwell-Pope was also pursued by the Knicks and other teams in free agency but decided to return to the team with whom he won a championship. The last of the Lakers’ money went to KCP, so they now will have the veteran’s minimum to fill out the remaining spots on their roster.
Lakers cap update from last night:
Because of the hard cap, the most LAL can offer KCP is $12M and still have enough $$ left to fill with vet minimums
Roster options
KCP + 4 vet minimums
5 vet minimums
Trade— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 21, 2020
