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2022 Free Agents - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Summary
Caldwell-Pope has proven himself to be a solid three-and-D option. He has shot just under 40% from three over the past three seasons and is a serviceable defender, which is certainly valuable in today's NBA. His eFG% has dipped a bit in '21-'22, but a lot of that is due to him taking more midrange jumpers than he had previously, as the injury to Bradley Beal forced Caldwell-Pope into a slightly different role. 

The former Georgia Bulldog may be slightly too small to defend some of the elite wings such as Kawhi Leonard, but he can hold his own against most starting level wings, and has also shown that he can defend the opposing team's point guard, which he often had to do for the Lakers during their title run in 2020 when Avery Bradley chose to sit out of the Orlando Bubble. He has also posted a solid steal rate his whole career, and has even upped his block rate over the past two seasons.

As a starting-level wing, I don't think KCP is overpaid at $13 million, so I would be surprised if he is waived by the Wizards and actually hits free agency in 2022.
 
Cap Considerations
Caldwell-Pope's $14 million salary for 2022-2023 is only $5 million guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Wizards will have no form of Bird rights on him. If Caldwell-Pope becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could possibly use the Non-Taxpayer MLE to sign him.

If KCP demands a starting salary of more than the full $10.3 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, but it's possible that Caldwell-Pope could be had for the full MLE or slightly less.

Potential Teams: Wizards, Knicks, Raptors, Hornets, Grizzlies

Predicted Contract: Not waived: $14 million
If waived: 3-year, $31.8 million with the Knicks

Actual Contract: Not waived: $14 million
As expected, Caldwell-Pope's salary for '22-'23 became guaranteed. The Wizards ended up trading KCP to Denver, where he should be a really good fit with the Nuggets.

Last updated: 6/29/2022

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