Tag: kcp nba

Nuggets ink massive extension with former UGA star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a two-year extension with shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a two-year extension with shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Nuggets are building around star center Nikola Jokic and point guard Jamal Murray.

Denver’s deal with Caldwell-Pope includes a player option in the second year of the contract. Caldwell-Pope’s agent, Rich Paul, helped him secure a two-year, $30 million extension. Prior to the extension, Caldwell-Pope was entering the final year of his contract that is worth $14 million for the 2022-2023 NBA season.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a former Georgia basketball standout, is expected to be a key piece of Denver’s core moving forward. The Nuggets acquired Caldwell-Pope from the Washington Wizards via trade earlier this offseason.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is coming off a strong season with the Washington Wizards. Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season.

Washington Wizards guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played in 77 games during the 2021-2022 NBA season. Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Caldwell-Pope’s 2021-2022 campaign featured some efficient shooting (39% on three-pointers and 43.5% overall) and helped the Wizards exceed preseason expectations. Caldwell-Pope brings NBA championship experience to the Denver Nuggets and will fit in well.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Caldwell-Pope’s extension:

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LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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Lakers’ Anthony Davis: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ‘saved us’

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping win game one of the NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win game one of the NBA Finals. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat 116-98 in a disastrous game for the Heat. Miami lost and suffered several key injuries to Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic.

Before the Lakers took a comfortable lead, Miami raced out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter. Los Angeles looked lost offensively and LeBron James checked out of the game for his usual rest.

Needing a spark offensively, some open looks fell to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who buried a pair of threes and scored a few points in the paint. KCP helped stave off Miami’s initial onslaught.

Los Angeles, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, didn’t look back from there. The Lakers outscored the Heat 55-25 for the rest of the first half. The Heat never cut the Lakers lead to single digits for the whole second half.

Following the game, Anthony Davis credited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He said that:

“KCP saved us.”

Davis and the Lakers will look to defeat the Heat next on Friday night. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has a large role on the team and plays the third-most minutes for LA. He doesn’t have to shoulder a massive scoring burden, but the team looks for him to step up in some big moments.

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Lakers need Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to win NBA championship

The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James desperately need Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s defense and shooting this postseason.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference after the NBA resumed action in Orlando, Florida. At 52-19, the Lakers gamble to trade for Anthony Davis has paid off. Los Angeles has won fifteen more games than last season thanks to the unstoppable combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers accomplished this despite playing eleven games less than in 2018-2019.

LeBron has taken over L.A.’s point guard duties and leads the NBA in assists per game at 10.2. Many of LeBron’s assists have been to former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

KCP is averaging only 9.3 points per game, but he is doing so at the most efficient clip of his career. KCP is shooting 46.7% from the field and 38.5% from three point territory this season. Each of these numbers are the best of his seven season NBA career.

The Lakers desperately need Caldwell-Pope’s defense and shooting this postseason. His improved efficiency will be key for the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope may be tasked with defending Portland’s Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the first round of the playoffs, if the Trailblazers defeat the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in game for the eight seed in the Western Conference.

Caldwell-Pope will play a large role in the playoffs because Avery Bradley elected not to participate in the NBA’s return. Yes, Los Angeles signed J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters, but that duo doesn’t have KCP’s chemistry with the Lakers starting lineup. The Georgia Bulldog great, KCP, will have the most pressure he’s ever faced in his NBA career.

KCP’s significant workload in the NBA postseason will be something we haven’t seen out of a Georgia Bulldog in quite sometime. It’ll be fun to watch for UGA fans moving forward!

Mar 8, 2020; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) celebrate in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers atStaples Center. The Lakers defeated the Clippers 112-100.Β  Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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