It's going to be an interesting offseason for the newly crowned NBA champs, the Los Angeles Lakers. There is going to be more than a few key personnel decisions that need to be made in the immediate future, with one of them coming in the form of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, KCP remaining with the Lakers for next season is anything but a certainty at this point:
After establishing himself as a key player heading into next season, Caldwell-Pope is expected to decline his $8.5 million player option, sources said. There’s significant mutual interest between Caldwell-Pope and the Lakers, but there will be some external suitors.
As the report states above, L.A. still remains to be the front-runners to retain Caldwell-Pope's services for the upcoming season. After all, he did just win a championship with the team, so why would the 27-year-old opt to walk away from a great situation, right?
Well for starters, the fact that other teams might be able to offer him more money could serve as motivation for him to jump ship. Charania also reports that a team like the Atlanta Hawks could show interest, as they look to build around All-Star point guard Trae Young.
It is worth noting that L.A. hold KCP's Bird Rights, which means that “they can sign him for any salary up to his max without having to use a different exception.” That's a huge factor to be considered here, as the Lakers appear to be in the driver's seat in terms of Caldwell-Pope's future.
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