Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Denver Nuggets

Player Facts

Height: 6'5"
Weight: 204lbs.

Wingspan: 6'8"

Date of Birth: Feb. 18, 1993
College Experience: Georgia (2 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 6
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 8
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 5
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 6
Passing: 4
Perimeter Defense: 7
Interior Defense: 5
Rebounding: 4

Embed from Getty Images

JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Transition Zoom

> Spot-Up Marksmanship

> Closeout-Attacks

> Weakside Cutting

> Active Defense

> Dodging the Pick

> Three-Point Defense

> Making Defensive Plays

> Shoddy Shot Creation

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of NF Highlights & Z.Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

KCP is a lively 3-and-D body with some multi-positional defensive capabilities. He also runs the floor hard and makes himself a target for pitch-aheads. Within the half-court, Kentavious is a knockdown perimeter shooter on his spot-ups.

The former Georgia Bulldog possesses a simplistic offensive game. The bulk of his points is scored via two main avenues – in transition and on catch-and-shoot jumpers. 2020-2021 saw him score 21.3% of his points in transition and another 55.1% on triples.

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Transition Zoom

Caldwell-Pope is very fleet of foot and he leverages this athletic gift in the open court. Even off a made basket, he'll turn on the jets if he feels he can get behind the defense for a quick score. Back in LA, LeBron loved to throw long bullet passes to a streaking Kentavious.

His ability to finish at high speeds is impressive and is a large part of his formidable fast break scoring profile. Outlet passers consistently find the 6'5" guard once he's already in or near the paint. As a result, the catch, two steps, and finish must all occur in rapid succession.

He even gets some opportunities to lead the break as a good steals/deflections guy. These instances often end with a KCP pull-up three-ball. This shot is a nice card to play for him if defenders are retreating into the paint.

All in all, the 2020 NBA champ scored 191 fast break points in 2020-2021 while donning the purple and gold. This tidy sum outpaced players like Darius Garland, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson, and Desmond Bane. He accrued his points here while sporting a strong 62.4 eFG% in this open court setting.

Spot-Up Marksmanship

KCP is such a seamless fit next to ball-dominant wings and point guards because of his strong off-ball game. He excels shooting off movement or when simply camped out in the corner. Kentavious has steadily worked on his 3pt shot after entering the league as more of a mediocre-percentage chucker from deep. He had 5.5 catch-and-shoot points per night in 2021-2022.

He uses a smooth jumper to rain down catch-and-shoot treys from all over. Caldwell-Pope was above 37% from the left corner, the right corner, and above-the-break in 2020-2021. That 6'5" size and 6'8" reach allows for a nice and high release point.

Closeout-Attacks

Kentavious has made strides as an attacker for himself or others off-the-catch. He's very decisive and is good at recognizing over-aggressive or half-hearted closeouts. That burst he has buoys his effectiveness in this area.

Caldwell-Pope's handle is good enough to make straightforward attacks against the defense. His finishing ability and deft straight-line drive game expand his value beyond just the rudimentary 3-and-D archetype. He'll even use the odd ball screen for a penetration chance.

He can finish with either hand in both the half-court and the open court. The bouncy KCP will even pack a right-handed throw-down here and there. Kentavious has been above 60% at the rim each year from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020.

Weakside Cutting

A look at his basket cutting completes KCP's offensive analysis. His quickness again plays here as does the threat of his three-point stroke. Playing next to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Danny Green, and Alex Caruso, he was in the 90th percentile scoring on cuts (2019-2020). He can now bolt in for perfect deliveries from the Joker.

Active Defense

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope brings defensive energy and versatility on the floor. He is very agile and fast which makes for formidable defensive stands on twitchier guards. In fact, he can even be the primary defender on an opposing team's lead guard.

Positional versatility in terms of who he guards is a good place to start here. Beyond the spryness, KCP has good length and he's stronger than his frame may suggest. He checked guards from Gary Trent Jr., Fred VanVleet, and Seth Curry to bigger wings such as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in 2020-2021 alone.

Dodging the Pick

Zooming in further on Kentavious' man defense, his point of attack work is valuable. He feverishly tries to get a hand between the DHO giver and receiver. His pursuits are active and effective when he does get clipped by the big.

2019-2020 saw him play some premium dribble handoff defense as a Laker. To be exact, he finished up in the 82nd percentile for his defense here. That 0.72 points per play against was stingier than Jrue Holiday, Marcus Smart, Royce O'Neale, and Josh Richardson.

Three-Point Defense

KCP continues to be a worthy defender in an away-from-the-play role. His defensive motor allows for sustained pressure chasing around shooters. That 6'8" reach provides some good contests on their catch-and-shoots too.

The Greenville native managed to lower opposing 3pt clips in 2019-2020. With him there to bother the shot, his counterparts shot 3.7% less than their typical mark from downtown. He stays vigilant with his 3pt D as evidenced by his low foul rates per-36.

Making Defensive Plays

Defensive disruptiveness is a realm KCP can excel within. This isn't the crown jewel of his defensive résumé but he's no slouch either.

Caldwell-Pope is an intuitive pass-forecaster. He averaged 1.7 deflections per night in 2020-2021, identical to plus-defenders Dorian Finney-Smith and Patrick Beverley.

WEAKNESSES

Shoddy Shot Creation

Most of KCP's weaknesses come in the form of on-ball offense. To start, he doesn't create much for others despite being a nominal two-guard.

On his rack attacks, he's mostly dead set on scoring himself. He drove 163 times in 2019-2020 but had just 22 dimes here. For context, a guy like Trevor Ariza drove less often but recorded more kick-outs for assists.

He averaged just 4 points generated for teammates per game in 2019-2020. The year before that was an even lower 3.2/contest. Notching even 3 assists per 36-minutes seems to be an elusive feat for Kentavious.

As is the case with many 3-and-D players, KCP's pull-up three-point clips are miles behind his percentages off-the-catch.

For just one example of the broader point above, he shot an even 39% on spot-up threes but just 32.3% on self-created ones (2019-2020). One effect of this is a non-threatening pick-and-roll scoring game, only averaging 0.8 points/night here in 2019-2020.

Overall, KCP is much more of a play-finisher than he is a play-initiator. This is fine as he has a role that doesn't ask this of him. However, a sharper off-the-bounce scoring game would vault him into being a far superior offensive piece.

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