The Los Angeles Lakers came away with a 95-86 win over the Utah Jazz for their first win of the season on Friday night, but it was no thanks to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went 0-for-6 in a one-point outing.
Caldwell-Pope has been absolutely horrendous over the first couple of games:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope through 2 games:
48 minutes
1 point
0/9 shooting
8 fouls pic.twitter.com/GgCoMUiQqB— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) October 26, 2019
The Lakers re-signed Caldwell-Pope on a two-year, $16 million contract over the summer with the expectation that he would be a big part of their plans this year, but thus far, he has been a disaster.
Of course, it has only been two games, and Caldwell-Pope surely won't continue playing this poorly, but it's not like he lit it up during his first season in Los Angeles, either.
Last year, Caldwell-Pope played in all 82 games, averaging 11.4 points and 2.9 rebounds over 24.8 minutes per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor, 34.7 percent from three-point range and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.
While those aren't terrible numbers, they weren't what the Lakers anticipated, as they signed him hoping he would provide a reliable three-and-D option for them. Instead, he was inconsistent from long range and struggled on the defensive end.
The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Georgia, was originally selected by the Detroit Pistons with the eighth overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
He failed to live up to expectations with the Pistons, as he was wildly inconsistent from downtown and showed little to no improvement on either end of the floor throughout his four-year tenure with the club.
The Lakers are 1-1 and will host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
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