From 2020 to 2023, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope established himself as one of the NBA’s premier role players. His defense and his outside shooting made him a pivotal piece in the championships won in Los Angeles and in Denver respectively, turning him into a highly sought-after asset for many teams. But since then, his career has shifted toward progressively less prominent stages.
After his move to Orlando in 2024, the guard still had a chance to contend in the playoffs again, albeit with far fewer ambitions, but last season in Memphis he found himself in a rebuilding environment where his presence didn’t fit in very well. And that is why the change of scenery to join LeBron, Embiid, Brown and Maxey on the 76ers is a move he receives with huge excitement.
«I want to return to playing meaningful basketball, to compete with a clear goal like another championship,» he said in an interview on The Dawg Talk Podcast. «The playoffs, their environment and the media spotlight, there’s nothing like that. I want to feel that competitiveness again, because I know I still have several years ahead to try.»
Precisely that competitiveness seems to be a key factor in Caldwell-Pope’s game, which has seen his production dip since leaving the league’s elite. There is no better way to illustrate it than his outside shooting, which hovered around or even exceeded 40% for several seasons and eventually fell to a mediocre 34.2% in Orlando and a disastrous 31.6% in Memphis. But now, surrounded once more by stars, he is expected to return to his best form.
