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Free agent guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to multiple reports. The deal will enable Caldwell-Pope to re-enter the market next summer, ESPN reported Tuesday night.
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Caldwell-Pope excited the Lakers because of his strong defense and shooting, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Caldwell-Pope, 24, began free agency as a restricted free agent, but the Detroit Pistons renounced his rights last Thursday, making him an unrestricted free agent.
This deal makes him one of the top 10 highest-paid shooting guards in the league, according to ESPN.
Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and a career-high 2.5 assists in 76 games last season with the Pistons. He averaged 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 314 career contests since being selected by the Pistons with the eighth overall pick of the 2013 draft.
Caldwell-Pope will miss the first two games of the 2017-18 season after the NBA suspended him last month following his guilty plea to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in Auburn Hills, Mich. He was arrested in March after police pulled him over for driving 45 mph in a 25-mph zone and a breathalyzer test displayed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08.
Caldwell-Pope will join No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball as the likely starters in the Lakers' remade backcourt.
