Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Chriss, Clippers Arena, Johnson, KCP

December 30th, 2019 at 6:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors forward Marquese Chriss has been fined $35K for shoving Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic to the floor, according to an NBA press release. The amount of the fine was based in part on the fact that Chriss has been disciplined on several prior occasions for physical altercations on the court. The incident, for which Chriss was assessed a technical foul, occurred during the third quarter on Saturday.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers’ proposed arena will contribute to a “significant and unavoidable” increase in traffic, noise and pollutants, according to a draft environmental impact report, Jason Henry of the Orange County Register relays. The report found there will be a significant impact to intersections and freeways during most of the venue’s events, regardless of any improvements. The Clippers are hoping to construct a new arena that will open in 2024.
Tyler Johnson is the most likely player the Suns will deal before February’s trade deadline, Gina Mizell of The Athletic opines. Johnson’s $19.2MM expiring contract is the best trade asset the Suns have, Mizell notes. The 27-year-old combo guard has seen his playing time dry up, as he’s only appeared in four games this month.
Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has caught fire since being moved to the bench, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register notes. Caldwell-Pope, who holds an $8.49MM option on his contract for next season, has knocked down 11 of his last 15 3-point attempts. “It’s a credit to his mental toughness and character,” coach Frank Vogel said. “At times guys can go in a shell if they’re facing heavy criticism and he didn’t do that. He responded by remaining confident, being true to himself, believing in himself.”

Lakers Notes: Caruso, Rondo, KCP, McGee

December 20th, 2019 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers guard Alex Caruso received assurances from the new coaching staff that he’d have a legitimate chance to make the rotation before he agreed to re-sign, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register reports.

Caruso’s conversation with coach Frank Vogel convinced him to ink a two-year, $5.5MM deal in July, though Caruso did not receive a bigger offer in the early stages of free agency.

“I knew there was opportunity,” Caruso said. “Coach Vogel called me when I was pretty close to making a decision and said there’s opportunity for minutes and that’s all I’ve ever needed in my career.”

Vogel has delivered on that pledge. Caruso has played in 27 of 29 games, averaging 5.4 PPG in 20.4 MPG.

Goon provided a number of other insights regarding the players who re-signed with the Lakers in free agency:

Rajon Rondo knew when he agreed to a two-year, $5.26MM contract with a player option that he’d have a reduced role. Rondo has appeared in 17 games, averaging 7.7 PPG and 5.6 APG in 21.36 MPG. “Very transparent,” the veteran point guard said of the front office’s plans for him. “Told me my role coming in, what they expected from me and how I could be a part of this run we’re trying to make.”
Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said it wasn’t a slam dunk he’d return, even though agent Rich Paul also represents the Lakers superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. “I wanted to be back, but with my agent, went through the process of free agency,” he said. “Pros and cons, where I want to be. It was all about what I wanted, and we just took it from there.” Caldwell-Pope signed an incentive-laden two-year, $19MM deal with a player option.
Center JaVale McGee was intent on returning, especially when he learned that Davis preferred to play power forward, opening a starting spot for him. McGee took a two-year, $8.2MM deal with a player option. He’s averaging 7.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 27 starts. “I felt like this is the best opportunity for me to possibly start and win the championship out of any other team,” he said. “I took it.”

Lakers Notes: Davis, Howard, Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma

December 5th, 2019 at 10:45am CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Davis has transformed the Lakers’ defense in his first season in L.A. and could be in line for his first Defensive Player of the Year award, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Davis is averaging a league-best 2.7 blocks per game and has become the anchor of a rapidly improving defensive unit. Going into last night’s win at Utah, the Lakers ranked fifth in defensive rating, third in points allowed per game and seventh in opponent’s field goal percentage.

“I think he can and will win Defensive Player of the Year this year,” coach Frank Vogel said. “I think there’s no one in the league like him defensively in terms of being able to guard all positions, protect the rim the way he does and deflect the basketball, contain the basketball. There really isn’t anyone in the league like him and if our team defense continues to play at a high level throughout the year, I think he’ll win it going away.”

Davis has been in the top five of the DPOY voting a couple times and believes he should have won the award two years ago. He said he developed his defensive philosophy by studying Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard, who is now a teammate.

“I’ve watched him grow over the years to blossom into a really great player on both ends of the floor,” Howard said. “So, really proud to see him sticking by his word and doing what he has to do every night to make this team better.”

There’s more Lakers news to pass along:

One of the reasons the Lakers have the league’s best record is Howard’s willingness to accept a complementary role, observes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. He’s giving the team quality minutes as a backup center without demanding to be the focus of the offense. “Throughout Dwight’s career, he’s been a guy you bring the ball down and you throw to him in the post and everybody works off of him,” LeBron James said. “Now he’s a screener. He’s a roller. He’s a guy who facilitates the offense if you pass it in to him. He gets the ball to the guards and he waits for his opportunities and he’s basically been great in that role.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope often heard boos early in the season, but his game has improved since he became a starter, Turner adds in a separate story. KCP is averaging 10.6 PPG while shooting 52.5% from the field and 47.7 on 3-pointers since an injury to Avery Bradley moved him into the starting lineup.
The Lakers still need to develop a dependable third scorer to go with Davis and James, notes Pete Zayas of The Athletic, who examines how Kyle Kuzma can fit that role.

Contract Bonus Notes: Nene, KCP, Randle, Jones

September 19th, 2019 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran big man Nene officially signed his new contract with the Rockets back on September 6, but the NBA has yet to formally approve the deal, writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). Sources tell Marks that the league has been discussing internally whether it should disapprove of the incentives in the agreement, which create a $10MM trade chip despite the fact that Nene will likely only be paid about $2.56MM.

The NBA has the right to challenge deals that it believes violate the spirit of rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, even if those deals are technically legal based on what’s written in the CBA. While it seems unlikely that Nene’s deal would be nixed, it wouldn’t be surprising if the league looked to adjust the rules related to bonuses and incentives in the future to prevent teams from manipulating a player’s cap hit to such a significant extent.

In the meantime, Nene’s deal is hardly the only one signed this offseason heavy on bonus money. We’ve gone into detail on the incentives included in a handful of other contracts, such as the ones signed by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but Marks has even more details on bonuses available to players around the NBA this year.

We won’t pass along every single note included in Marks’ article, but here are a few of the noteworthy new bonuses worth watching in 2019/20:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can earn three separate $350K bonuses if he averages 1.85 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game this season with the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope’s new deal also includes a $163K bonus for being named to either All-Defensive team and a $50K bonus if the Lakers reach the Western Finals.
Julius Randle‘s contract with the Knicks includes three separate $900K unlikely bonuses that he could earn if he makes the All-Star team, is named to an All-Defensive team, or makes the playoffs (and appears in at least 65 games).
Tyus Jones‘ $9.258MM cap hit with the Grizzlies in 2019/20 includes an $858K bonus that has been deemed likely. Jones will earn the bonus if Memphis wins 33 games. If the rebuilding Grizzlies fall short of that mark, Jones’ cap hit for the season will dip to $8.4MM.
Maxi Kleber‘s new contract with the Mavericks features a set of four unlikely bonuses that could be worth up to $475K in total. To earn them all, Kleber must make an All-Defensive team ($150K), make at least 80% of his free throws ($75K), make at least 40% of his three-pointers ($150K), and average more than nine rebounds per 36 minutes ($100K).
Again, if you’re an ESPN Insider, be sure to check out Marks’ full story for more details on some of the more unusual incentives around the league.

Contract Details: Magic, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls, More

July 7th, 2019 at 7:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The free agency deals began a week ago, but the details of those arrangements are slowly trickling in as they become official. Let’s take a look at some contract notes from players around the league:

Nikola Vucevic’s four-year, $100MM deal with the Magic will decline by 8% annually, Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights tweets. Vucevic will make roughly $28.4MM in the first year of his front-loaded contract.
Terrence Ross‘ four-year, $52MM contract with the Magic will start at $12.5MM, per Siegel. Ross will make $13.5MM during the 2020/21 season, followed by $12.5MM and $11.5MM in the two ensuing years.
Al-Farouq Aminu will take home the full non-taxpayer’s mid-level on his deal with the Magic. He’ll make approximately $9.3MM during his first season and approximately $9.7MM and $10.2MM, respectively, over the ensuing two campaigns.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s two year deal with the Lakers is worth approximately $16.6MM in total value. KCP can make roughly $1.2MM in annual incentives on top of that amount, a source tells Siegel (Twitter link). The shooting guard has a player option on the second year of the pact, which also has a 15% trade bonus. Since his deal could be a one-year contract (if he chooses to turn down the player option), Caldwell-Pope has a default no-trade clause.
JaVale McGee also has a player option on the final year of his two-year deal with the Lakers, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets. McGee, who will make $8.2MM over the length of his contract, also has the ability to veto a trade.
Markieff Morris‘ two-year deal with the Pistons contains a second-year player option, Smith tweets. Morris was signed via the bi-annual exception.
Bruno Fernando‘s three-year deal with the Hawks is worth $4.7MM, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. It appears Atlanta will be using cap space to sign the rookie.
Tomas Satoransky final season of the three-year, $30MM deal with the Bulls is only guaranteed for $5MM, Fred Katz of The Athletic relays (Twitter link). Chicago brought the point guard to town via sign-and-trade.

Lakers Officially Acquire Anthony Davis In Three-Team Trade

July 6th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers, Pelicans, and Wizards have officially completed the three-team trade that makes Anthony Davis a Laker. All three teams issued press releases tonight to announce the deal. The structure of the trade is as follows:

Lakers acquire Anthony Davis.
Pelicans acquire Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the draft rights to De’Andre Hunter (No. 4 pick), the Lakers’ 2021 first-round pick (9-30 protected; unprotected in 2022), the Lakers’ 2024 first-round pick (unprotected), the right to swap 2023 first-round picks with the Lakers, and cash ($1.1MM; from Wizards).
- Note: The Pelicans will also have the option to defer the 2024 first-round pick to 2025.
Wizards acquire Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, and the Lakers’ 2022 second-round pick.

The long-awaited deal was held up slightly today as the Lakers officially finalized a series of signings using their cap room. In order to maximize its cap space, the club had to sign free agents first before acquiring Davis. Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Quinn Cook, and JaVale McGee all signed their contracts with the Lakers since the July moratorium ended this afternoon.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, will now flip the rights to Hunter to the Hawks in a separate deal, putting the No. 4 pick on track to join his new team for Summer League action. Once the deal is done, Atlanta will also be able to complete its trade with the Sixers involving Bruno Fernando and Jordan Bone, then Philadelphia will be able to flip Bone to the Pistons.

For more details on one of the summer’s biggest trades, be sure to check out our previous stories on the Lakers/Pelicans aspect of the deal, as well as the Lakers/Wizards part of the swap.

Lakers Announce Multiple Signings

July 6th, 2019 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

After a flurry of moves today, the Lakers have made five of them official, tweets Bill Oram of The Athletic.

The team announced the re-signing of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee, along with the free agent additions of DeMarcus Cousins, Quinn Cook and Danny Green.

Still to come are the signings of Rajon Rondo, Troy Daniels, Jared Dudley and Alex Caruso, along with confirmation of the mega-deal that will bring Anthony Davis from the Pelicans.

Lakers To Re-Sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee

July 6th, 2019 at 2:20am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers continue to act quickly in moving on to their backup plans in free agency after losing out on Kawhi Leonard. Having already reached a deal to sign Danny Green, the Lakers are also on track to re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter links).

According to Shelburne, Caldwell-Pope is expected to sign a two-year, $16MM contract to remain in Los Angeles, while the Lakers have agreed to a two-year, $8.2MM deal for McGee.

Caldwell-Pope, who – like teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis – is represented by agent Rich Paul, has spent the last two seasons with the Lakers, averaging 12.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG with a .428/.365/.824 shooting line in 156 games (28.8 MPG). He’ll join Green as the go-to three-and-D options on a roster that had initially been heavy on frontcourt players.

As for McGee, he enjoyed arguably the best season of his 11-year NBA career for the Lakers in 2018/19, averaging 12.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 75 games, including 62 as the club’s starting center.

With Green set to sign a two-year, $30MM contract, the Lakers have now committed more than half of their $32MM in cap space. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggests (via Twitter) that L.A. will have about $11.5MM in room left after this flurry of deals, while Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter) believes that number could be as high as $14.7MM, depending on how the contracts are structured.

Both of those figures assume that McGee’s contract would come out of the $4.8MM room exception, though the Lakers could theoretically use that exception on another player if McGee is re-signed using cap space.

In addition to signing Green, Caldwell-Pope, and McGee, the Lakers will also add Jared Dudley and Troy Daniels on minimum-salary contracts once their cap room has been exhausted.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agency Rumors: Mavs, Rockets, Bulls, Wolves, C’s

July 1st, 2019 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

It was a quiet first day of free agency for the Mavericks, but the team still has some irons in the fire and plenty of cap flexibility to work with.

Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets that he believes the Mavericks are “in the driver’s seat” with Danny Green, though he cautions that could change if Kawhi Leonard decides to stay in Toronto — Green could join him in that scenario.

Besides Green, Townsend identifies Kevon Looney, DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Seth Curry, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as some potential free agent targets to watch for the Mavericks.

Let’s round up a few more notes and rumors related to free agency…

The Rockets will be among the teams with interest in Andre Iguodala if the Grizzlies elect to buy out the veteran swingman, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Iguodala is being sent to Memphis from Golden State in a cap-clearing move.
Having used their cap room to land Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky, the Bulls will be in the market for a shooter or another big man with some or all of their room exception ($4.8MM), tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
The Timberwolves missed out on top free agent target D’Angelo Russell, but did speak to their own RFA point guard Tyus Jones on Sunday, sources tell Jon Krawcznyski of The Athletic, who speculates that a Jones reunion may be more likely with D-Lo off the table.
In the wake of their sign-and-trade agreement for Kemba Walker, the Celtics are still working to determine which mid-level exception they’ll have at their disposal, tweets Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald.

Lakers Notes: Hart, Caldwell-Pope, LeBron, Culver

June 1st, 2019 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

In a recent interview on Danny Green‘s podcast, Josh Hart said he felt that LeBron James and fellow Rich Paul client Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were the only untouchables when the Lakers tried to deal for Anthony Davis in February (hat tip to Christian Rivas of Silver Screen and Roll).

Caldwell-Pope had the equivalent of a no-trade clause because he signed back-to-back one-year contracts and would have lost his Bird rights with any team that dealt for him. Even so, Hart described the experience as disruptive.

“It was just different because guys feel like, ‘All right, we rocking together,’” Hart said. “Beginning of the year, we rocking together and then we had the injuries and A.D., who’s obviously with Klutch, so it’s like, ‘All right, we don’t know what’s going on with this one.’ So it’s just different.”

There’s more today from Los Angeles:

Former Celtics great Paul Pierce isn’t surprised that James’ first year in L.A. turned out poorly, telling Steve Bullpet of The Boston Herald that James chose the Lakers for reasons other than basketball. “Based on the roster, this was an after-basketball decision,” Pierce said. “They had an opportunity to make the team better, but based on how the team was when he went there, that wasn’t about basketball.” Pierce also claims that LeBron never fully won the acceptance of Lakers fans.
James was on hand to watch Jarrett Culver‘s pre-draft workout, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. Coming off a magnificent performance in the NCAA tournament, Culver is in the mix to be selected by the Lakers with their No. 4 pick. “He was just kind of sitting back and watching,” Culver said of James. “You know, you’ve got LeBron in the gym. That’s amazing to have as a young kid like me. After the workout, he just told me to keep working.”
More embarrassing stories continue to lower the public perception of the Lakers’ front office, writes Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register. This week’s look inside the organization by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes uncovered more charges of nepotism and cronyism, along with a picture of Magic Johnson as an abusive executive.