Lakers' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Goes through practice with starters

Caldwell-Pope (knee) took part in practice Monday and worked with the starting group, Bill Oram of The Athletic reports.

Caldwell-Pope was held out of the preseason finale Friday due to tendinitis in his knee, but the issue doesn't appear to be anything of great concern, even though he was held out of the final scrimmage Monday as a precaution. "In my medical opinion I think he's going to be just fine," head coach Luke Walton said after the session. Perhaps the more relevant news is that Caldwell-Pope worked as a starter alongside Rajon Rondo in the backcourt, which could be an indication of how Walton is leaning in advance of the regular season opener Thursday in Portland. Caldwell-Pope has been in competition, primarily, with Josh Hart for the starting shooting guard job, and Walton said Monday that he'll continue to evaluate the position on a daily basis.