Ex-Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gets 1 year to bet on himself with Los Angeles Lakers
Vince Ellis and Chris Thomas of the Free Press went on Facebook Live to
dissect the Pistons' trade with the Celtics for Avery Bradley, and
decision to let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leave, July 7, 2017.
Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press
LAS VEGAS — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gets another year to bet on himself.
Five
days after the Detroit Pistons pulled Caldwell-Pope’s qualifying offer
in the wake of the trade for Avery Bradley, making Caldwell-Pope an
unrestricted free agent, Caldwell-Pope has reportedly landed with the
Los Angeles Lakers.
ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst was first to report the one-year, $18 million agreement late Tuesday night.
The
deal officially marks the end of Caldwell-Pope’s tenure in Detroit,
which began in 2013 when the Pistons used the eighth pick of the NBA
draft on the 6-foot-5 Georgia shooting guard.
More Pistons:
Caldwell-Pope,
24, became a restricted free agent in October when the Pistons and
agents Rich Paul and Mark Termini failed to reach an agreement before
the deadline. A person with firsthand knowledge of the situation told
the Free Press that a four-year, $80-million offer was turned down by
Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope played well this season until
receiving a vicious pick from Golden State Warriors center Zaza
Pachulia, which caused Caldwell-Pope to miss four games with a shoulder
injury.
He struggled the rest of the way, but the Pistons extended
a $4.9 million qualifying offer with the intention of negotiating a new
deal when the free agency moratorium began July 1.
But a deal
didn’t materialize and the Pistons signed combo guard Langston Galloway
and later traded Marcus Morris to the Boston Celtics for Bradley.
With
the drafting of Duke shooting guard Luke Kennard, the Pistons viewed
Caldwell-Pope as expendable and they rescinded the qualifying offer.
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