Denver Nuggets fans should be swelling with anticipation for the upcoming season after what their team has accomplished this offseason. One of their shrewder and likely more impactful—though criminally underrated—moves was picking up three-and-D specialist Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Nuggets then secured the ten-year veteran’s services for another two years with a solid two-year, $30 million extension, which shows just how much Denver values his skill set.
Not only is he known as a perimeter pest on the defensive end, but his cool and consistent stroke from behind the arc is a puzzle piece they’ve needed for some time on the offensive side of the ball.
We’ve already taken a look at how the trade will affect Denver’s roster composition, so now the only question is, how will KCP actually fit next to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and company on the floor as he enters his tenth season in the league?
How can Kentavious Caldwell-Pope help the Denver Nuggets on defense?
The 3-and-D specialist has become a very important part of many a team around the NBA, not least because of the sky-rocketing importance of three-point shooting in today’s game. KCP is still not even 30 years old, and he just had his best season since 2016 with the Wizards last year, putting up 13.2 points per game on a 44/39/89 shooting line to go with 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
There’s no doubting that at 29 years old, KCP still has a lot of gas left in the tank, and when he’s on his game, he can be something of a very poor man’s Klay Thompson. And that’s not an insult at the guy, because Thompson is all-world at what he’s asked to do: drain triples and D up on the other end. KCP can definitely do those two things for the Nuggets this season.
It was just last year that KCP’s then-coach with the Lakers, Frank Vogel, was singing his praises for his active defensive work, even suggesting that he should get some love for the All-Defensive teams. He didn’t, but he was fourth in defensive real plus-minus among shooting guards that season at +2.80.
Speaking about KCP and his backcourt mate, Alex Caruso, Vogel had this to say about their defensive chops back in May of 2021:
"“They’re great with containment, they can defend one-on-one, they’re great with deflections and steals, competing with bigs, negotiating through screens and reconnecting with their man, the pursuit aspect. “All those things aren’t really measured in numbers, but all of the coaches out there, anybody that knows the game can see that they’re major contributors on the defensive end with what they bring to the table.”"
This highlight compilation is from a few years ago, but Speed Demon Dynamo still applies to the way KCP buzzes around on the defensive end, staying active, hustling, and always showing a ton of energy and tenacity while locking up opponents.
Caldwell-Pope is not a good defender by accident either, he was actually interviewed by NBC Sports last season and the main subject of conversation was how to defend on the perimeter. The Georgia native clearly takes pride in his craft as a defender, and he had some interesting things to say about his strategy and preparation:
"“I just try to contain and stay in front. If I can just stay in front of my guy, I can get a great contest. So, that’s my go-to and what I look for is just his jersey number. It’s in the middle of his chest, it’s not going to move, so if I’m watching that it helps me out a little bit.”"
The Denver Nuggets have not been a top defensive team with Jokic as the focal point, though the Big Cevapi did make some strides on that end last year, as Nugg Love outlined last November. Aaron Gordon is a plus-defender, but Porter Jr. has never been even an average defender and could actually be called a liability at times. Murray has never been a real negative on that end, but never a real positive either. With KCP and Gordon patrolling the wings together in the starting five, the Nuggets should be a lot tougher for perimeter players to take advantage of this year.
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.