How will Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fit with the Denver Nuggets?

What does Kentavious Caldwell-Pope give the Denver Nuggets on offense?

The other half of KCP’s game that the Denver Nuggets were after is the veteran’s solid outside shooting. He has shot 38 percent from deep while dropping in 2.2 triples per game over the past five seasons as he’s really found his niche, with his high of 41 percent from downtown coming just two seasons ago in his last year in L.A.

With Murray and Porter Jr. back alongside Jokic, there won’t be much need for KCP to create his own shot, so it’ll all be about catch-and-shoot scenarios for the Georgia product.

That should be fine by Caldwell-Pope, who took just under 61 percent of his shots without taking a dribble last season, according to NBA.com. Over half of the ten-year veteran’s shots were in catch-and-shoot situations, where he shot it at a 42 percent clip. Not to mention that a whopping 73.3 percent of his shots came when he touched the ball for two seconds or less, a situation in which he shot an impressive 44.8 percent from the field.

This would seem to fit perfectly with a Nuggets team that scored the second-most points off of catch-and-shoot actions (31.5) last year but only put up the 16th-best overall three-point efficiency (35.3 percent) and 13th-best 3-point percentage on catch-and-shoots (36.6). KCP fits right into the mould of the offence and brings sharper shooting than the Nuggets have had.

As you can see from his season-high 35-point performance against the Mavericks above, while he is a catch-and-shoot specialist, he’s far from a one-trick pony, as he’s able to dribble-drive, pull-up, and finish through contact when the need arises.

An obvious theme during that highlight video is that KCP is always running and trying to offer outlets on the fast break, which should mesh perfectly with Jokic and his penchant for deep balls on the fast break. Not to mention the Denver Nuggets were tenth in the league in fast break points last season, with 13.5 per game.

KCP will bring defense and he will bring shooting to a team that is in dire need of both, his hustle in the fast break would also seem to jive very well with the focal point of this Denver Nuggets team. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (and a little bit of luck in the health department) could be just the piece the Nuggets need to make that next step in the tough Western Conference.