Nuggets guard a reminder of disastrous Lakers trade
For the second time in four years, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is playing the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. And an awful Lakers trade is responsible.
Caldwell-Pope was a huge part of the Lakers' run through the playoffs in the NBA bubble in 2020. He played the third-highest minutes on the team, behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis, starting all six Finals games while averaging 12.8 points. In Game 4, he hit three triples and dished five assists to help L.A. secure a tight victory. He also turned the ball over only four times in the entire series while playing excellent defense.
But after the Lakers lost in the first round in 2021, Los Angeles surrendered much of the supporting depth around James and Davis to form a "Big Three" with Russell Westbrook. As a result, KCP and Kyle Kuzma were traded to the Washington Wizards.
For a team that was lacking in threes and defense, the exchange of Caldwell-Pope for Westbrook was disastrous. KCP's 159 three-pointers would have been third on the team this season, just behind James and Malik monk, while his 39 percent shooting was just shy of Monk's 39.1 percent. For context, Westbrook shot 29.8 percent from deep during the 2022-23 campaign.
It took nearly two years, millions of dollars and multiple draft picks for the Lakers to replace Caldwell-Pope. Meanwhile, the opportunistic Nuggets traded for Caldwell-Pope in the offseason to play shooting guard and he has been a perfect fit. He is the perimeter defender the Nuggets have been lacking for years, providing an inside-outside defensive combo with Aaron Gordon. And when they've needed him, he has scored.
The Lakers eventually assembled a playoff roster this February. But they could have saved a lot of time - and a lot of miles on James and Davis - if they had simply stuck with the playoff roster they already had. And the three-and-D guard who's now four games away from another ring.
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