Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s significant other refuted a report that the Denver Nuggets offered the 31-year-old a contract similar to the three-year, $66 million deal he inked with the Orlando Magic recently.
Caldwell-Pope spent the last two seasons of his NBA career with Denver and was a valuable contributor to the Nuggets’ title run in 2023.
In Caldwell-Pope, the Magic are getting a player who impacts both sides of the ball.
He has developed a reputation as one of the better perimeter defenders in the NBA today. In 76 games with the Nuggets during the 2023-24 regular season, he averaged 1.3 steals to go along with a career-high 0.6 blocks per contest.
At least on paper, Caldwell-Pope and Jalen Suggs should make for one of the league’s best defensive backcourts. Suggs has just three seasons of NBA experience, yet he has already cemented himself as a pesky defender, and he averaged 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks per game with the Magic last season.
As for the offensive side of the ball, Caldwell-Pope can space the floor at a high level. He shot better than 40 percent from deep in each of his two seasons with the Nuggets and knocked down 40.6 percent of his attempts from deep in his swan song in Denver.
Caldwell-Pope ranked second on the Nuggets behind only Jamal Murray — who shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range — in 3-point percentage and third on the team in 3s made per contest behind Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
The Magic are hoping that Caldwell-Pope’s two-way ability will help the team improve upon what was an auspicious 2023-24 campaign. Orlando finished the regular season with a record of 47-35, which earned the team its first playoff appearance in several years.
On top of that, the Magic came close to winning a playoff series, considering they lost to Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Magic lost the deciding Game 7 by a final score of 106-94.
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