Report: Lakers meet with free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
The Lakers are looking into Kentavious Caldwell-Pope now that he's unrestricted
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1 min read
The Los Angeles Lakers were expected to keep their spending down in this summer's free agency period. (Magic Johnson said as much in May.)
However, that doesn't mean they wouldn't be interested in improving their roster with some potential value contracts. One of those players could be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who the Lakers met with Tuesday, according to ESPN.
Caldwell-Pope became an unrestricted free agent when the Pistons traded for Avery Bradley, rather than try and match an offer for Caldwell-Pope. The market on KCP has been far below what he was expecting, and that's opened the door for teams like the Lakers to try and get him at a potential value.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope met with Lakers today, sources said. Several teams have expressed interest since he became unrestricted.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 11, 2017
Caldwell-Pope wasn't an unrestricted free agent for very long before the Lakers were connected, so there's clearly an interest there. If he wants to sign for long-term on something inexpensive he can, but it's possible that he chooses to take a heftier one- to two-year deal.
The Lakers want to keep cap space available for a potential Paul George signing next summer, so it's unlikely they give Caldwell-Pope the four-year max he's seeking. However, a one year contract at max value where Caldwell-Pope can prove he's worth the money wouldn't be a bad way to raise his stock. Then he can enter free agency again next summer and try to get the money he believes he's worth.
