The Nuggets’ front office hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory since winning the title in 2023. Calvin Booth made countless bad decisions, and the jury is still out on the Ben Tenzer/Jon Wallace era, to say the least.
But one thing that the team clearly got right was actually a pretty unpopular decision in the moment, and that was letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency two years ago. The Nuggets had just come up short in their repeat attempt, falling to the Timberwolves in a hard-fought seven-game battle in round two, but their starting lineup was clearly still as good as any in the league.
KCP was a big part of that unit as the lead defensive stopper and a valuable spacer and three-point shooter who also offered championship experience and veteran leadership. And of that starting group, which featured KCP, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr., Caldwell-Pope was the first one to hit free agency.
Despite having his Bird rights and the ability to match any deal, Booth wanted to empower the young, homegrown talent and didn’t match the deal KCP received from the Orlando Magic for three years and $66 million. In the moment, it seemed a bit crazy to willfully break up a lineup that won a title just 12 months earlier, but looking back now, there’s no question it was the right decision.
Caldwell-Pope didn't even make it through his 3yr-$66m deal
Caldwell-Pope had one brutal season in Orlando before the team dumped his contract along with four first-round picks to Memphis in a trade for Desmond Bane. KCP’s one season in Memphis was even worse, and now, entering the final year of his deal, the Grizzlies and Caldwell-Pope have agreed to a contract buyout.
He has already signed with the 76ers on a minimum to join LeBron James and try to chase his third title with three different teams. Maybe there’s a universe where he can still be somewhat helpful as a deep rotation player, but it’s pretty clear that he’s just about fully washed up.
And to be paying $22 million a year for this version of KCP would be an absolute nightmare scenario for the Nuggets. Their financial situation is already bad enough. Now imagine what it would look like if they had $20+ million tied up in Caldwell-Pope for another season. It’s impossible to know what the ripple effects would have been and what the team would look like now, but the salary cap situation would undoubtedly be even worse.
It’s hard to give Booth much credit given all of the other bad contracts he handed out and the mess he left his successors to clean up in terms of finances and lack of draft picks and prospects. But at least in terms of this one big, difficult decision, he unequivocally got it right, and for that, Nuggets fans should be very thankful.
Add us as a preferred source on Google