The Lakers made a second big move in NBA free agency on Tuesday, reaching a one-year deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for $18 million. KCP had struck out as a restricted free agent and been renounced by the Pistons; with no one willing to beat the five-year, $80 million deal he’d turned down from Detroit over the long term, the two-way guard decided to re-earn that money on an annual basis. The idea for KCP is that he’ll have a strong 2017-18 and be well-positioned as an unrestricted free agent on July 1 to sign a long-term deal.
The Lakers aren’t tanking any longer
Good morning. We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
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What’s the idea for the Lakers? They are done tanking, and not a moment too soon. L.A. doesn’t own its own 2018 first-round draft pick — that’s going to the Sixers or Celtics — and the Lakers have a new regime that wants to wash the bad taste of the past several years out of fans’ mouths. KCP is a better two-guard than Jordan Clarkson or any other option the Lakers have, so this should help them actually be better.
It also preserves that all-important salary cap space for 2018, for whence the Lakers have dreams of Russell Westbrook and Paul George and, hell, maybe LeBron James or DeMarcus Cousins. Finding a good, young player who fits the growth arc for the current core — Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle — without locking up 2018-19 cap space is perfect.
The only problem comes if Caldwell-Pope isn’t actually good. If the Lakers sputter again, they probably aren’t getting any of those big free agents. This time, L.A. really can’t afford a losing season. In that sense, the Lakers are betting a lot on KCP, Brook Lopez, and an infamous rookie point guard. Good luck!
The Hawks landed Dewayne Dedmon for $7 million next season, plus a player option year in 2018-19 at the same salary. If Dedmon can stop fouling so much, this is a sneaky good Dwight Howard replacement decision.
Jayson Tatum is tearing up the Summer League. Can it translate to the NBA? Ricky O’Donnell digs in.
Carmelo Anthony has reportedly agreed to waive his no-trade for a Houston deal, so we’re just waiting to see if it gets done.
Steve Kerr comparing Kevin Durant’s financial sacrifice to that of Tim Duncan is an interesting concept. I think there are a few reasons it doesn’t quite work. The first is that Duncan had been a San Antonio lifer — he didn’t switch teams to better position himself to win titles, and then take a haircut to help his new boss save dough. There are the differences in markets —
though San Antonio is a massive city with a couple of corporate titans, the Bay Area’s market potential for pro sports is just incredible. There are the franchise owners themselves: Peter Holt had long been considered one of the last bootstrapper NBA owners, whereas Joe Lacob is a venture capitalist billionaire. Finally, Duncan and Durant made sacrifices in different political and social environments. Thomas Piketty wasn’t a bestseller in Duncan’s heyday, and something tells me San Antonio stars who saved Holt some money would get pilloried by those who checked Holt’s political donation stats these days. Timing is everything.
Really nice chat with Chris Paul on the decision that led him to request a trade to the Rockets and what L.A. meant to him.
Kevin Arnovitz writes that stars and only stars can balance the conferences.
Kevin O’Connor assess the best and worst offseasons.
And finally: Paul George got quite the welcome in OKC.
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