The Los Angeles Lakers have signed unrestricted free agent shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a one-year contract worth $18 million.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst broke the news just after midnight on Wednesday:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal with the Lakers, sources tell ESPN.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 12, 2017
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Signs One-Year Contract With Los Angeles Lakers
Caldwell-Pope’s new deal will take him through the end of the 2017-18 season. Caldwell-Pope started out as a restricted free agent, but his incumbent team, the Detroit Pistons, renounced his rights last week after trading for Avery Bradley, another two-guard. That made Caldwell-Pope an unrestricted free agent, allowing him to sign with no time frame for the Pistons to match the offer.
The eighth overall pick from the 2013 NBA Draft averaged 13.8 points on 40 percent shooting from the field last season for the Pistons. After improving both his scoring volume and efficiency in his first three seasons, Caldwell-Pope took a step back last year.
Looking forward, the Lakers are hoping that at just 24 years old, Caldwell-Pope still has plenty of growth in his future. He’ll need to become a more efficient scorer and prove he can take on a heavier workload in order to make this contract pay off for Los Angeles.
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