Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is Finding His Shot at the Right Time for the Magic

When summer signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope posted a 22.4 three-point percentage through his first 18 games, his Orlando Magic teammates weren't worried.

Then, when Caldwell-Pope knocked down four threes for a third consecutive game at Brooklyn on Dec. 1 earlier this season, the Magic had evidence to support their unwavering belief.

"He's a knockdown shooter, we all knew he was going to get it going," Paolo Banchero told reporters in Orlando's Barclays Center locker room the first day of December. "He's a career 40-percent shooter, so that means if you start the year off at 20 percent, you're about to go on a nice hot streak."

Yet, Caldwell-Pope's 17-for-31 three-point shooting over four games had turned out to be a flash in the pan. The veteran guard shot just 30.9 percent from three in 53 games pre-All-Star break. While his defense, availability and championship pedigree factored into Orlando's signing, the uncharacteristic poor shooting left more to be desired. After all, he'd shot no worse than 38.5 percent from distance the previous five years.

Coming back from the All-Star break, however, Banchero's comments are beginning to ring true again – and stay true this time.

Caldwell-Pope's percentages have spiked to 51.5 percent from the field, (up from 41.0 percent) 45.8 percent from three and 64.9 percent true shooting (54.3 pre-All-Star). He's making more shots with less attempts, and his net rating has jumped from -1.7 to 5.0.

Perhaps his best game came Tuesday versus the Spurs, when the 12th-year guard hit 7-of-9 threes in a critical road victory. Orlando improved to 4-1 when Caldwell-Pope makes four or more threes in a game.

After the game, Caldwell-Pope credited Banchero and Franz Wagner – Orlando's two heavily relied-upon creators he played much of the first two-thirds of the year without because of injury – for finding him and helping him get into a rhythm.

But, after a year where his shotmaking hasn't been up to his previously set standards, he also admitted it "feels goo to see the ball go through anyways, and then for your teammates [to be] looking for you and creating for you makes it even better."

The pace of the Magic's offense – second-slowest in the NBA – does little to stress defenses, especially if the threat of shooting isn't there. But Orlando desires to play quicker, and it has amounted to some success when done so correctly, particularly in finding open looks from three.

That's a good thing. Orlando, dead last in three-point percentage this year collectively, is 5-0 this season when making 18 or more threes in a game, 13-2 when making 15 or more, and 21-6 when making at least 13. The problem with that? The Magic are 16-34 in the 50 instances they've made 12 or fewer.

"I think we're making quick decisions," point guard Cory Joseph said at Thursday's shootaround when asked what contributes to Orlando's onslaught of made threes in certain games. "The person with the basketball, it's popping around, we're in rhythm, we're playing fast [and] with pace."

When that happens?

"We've been making more shots from three lately, so it's been helping our offense," Banchero said Thursday.

Caldwell-Pope has looked more like the player Orlando thought it was signing this offseason. For a team scrounging for positive momentum at this time in the year, that's a positive.

Up Next

The Magic conclude their two-game road trip with a visit to the Washington Wizards (17-59) for the final time this regular season Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m.