Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is staying with the defending champions, Los Angeles Lakers.
As Rich Paul of Klutch Sports told The Athletic's Shams Charania on Saturday, the shooting guard agreed to a three-year, $40 million deal to remain in LA. Caldwell-Pope opted out of the final year of his deal in order to strike a new long-term contract.
Free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has agreed to a three-year, $40M deal with the Lakers, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 22, 2020
Since singing LeBron James in July of 2018, the Lakers have become a hot-bed for Klutch clients, including Anthony Davis, JR Smith, Dion Waiters and Markieff Morris, so it's ultimately no surprise that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is sticking around.
The New York Knicks were among the teams reported to have interest in the 27-year-old swingman.
Caldwell-Pope would have earned about $8.4 million in 2020-21 on his previous contract, so he'll be getting a slight annual raise—and with good reason. KCP averaged an unremarkable 9.3 points per game on 38.5 percent three-point shooting during the 2019-20 regular season, but he saved his best basketball for the NBA Finals.
He was the Lakers' third-leading scorer in their six-game series victory over the Miami Heat, averaging 12.8 points. He didn't shoot as efficiently as he did during the season, but like Rajon Rondo, his defense and activity on both ends were crucial to the team's championship run.
The defending champions have made notable efforts to strengthen its bench in the first days of free agency. First, the Lakers acquired Dennis Schroder from the Oklahoma City Thunder then signed 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell away from the Los Angeles Clippers–using the full midlevel exception. On Friday, GM Rob Pelinka inked free-agent wing Wesley Matthews using the bi-annual exception.
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