Kentavious Caldwell-Pope takes subtle shot at the Nuggets

Much has been made of the Nuggets letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope go this offseason. He was a key starter in Denver and helped the team win a championship in 2023. But KCP declined his player option and the team famously chose to let him go, keeping financial flexibility open for years to come while making a big bet on their young, unproven players.

As far as Nuggets fans are concerned, it has mostly been an out-of-sight, out-of-mind case as far as Caldwell-Pope goes. He signed with the Orlando Magic, said his goodbyes to Denver, and peacefully went his own way, starting a path with another team. 

He’s a great veteran leader and defender and it’s no coincidence that he’s been a starter for championship teams at both of his last two stops. The Nuggets know that he won’t be easy to replace. They’re confident in guys like Christian Braun and Julian Strawther to step up, but it will take some time for anyone to reach the level of KCP.

But at the end of the day, the Nuggets felt the price tag had simply gotten too high. They wanted to keep their books open, knowing they’d soon have to extend Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon while already paying max contracts to Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr.

We haven’t heard many reports out of Orlando, but that’s a young team with plenty of promise and talent. Signing KCP should add a great veteran leader to a team that’s trying to make a big jump this year and vault themselves into contention in the Eastern Conference.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope demeans the defensive play of his former teams

The calling card of this young Magic team has been their defense, and that’s Caldwell-Pope’s specialty. And it appears that KCP is fitting like a glove and loving what he’s seeing as he recently commented to the media, 

“This is the first team I’ve been a part of where everyone likes to play defense”.

Caldwell-Pope was obviously trying to talk up his new teammates and their defensive prowess, but it’s hard not to notice the subtle dig at his former teams and teammates. His most recent team is the Nuggets who he played on for the past two seasons.

They were a top-10 defense and were good enough to win a title, but the calling card of the Nuggets was their offense. Players like Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr. have come a long way on that end, but nobody would confuse them with defensive specialists. 

The Nuggets have been getting plenty of bulletin board material recently from all sides, but this is the first from a former player. It’s just one more detractor to add to the list and one more reason to get motivated to have a bounce-back season.