Detroit Pistons: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope season in review and grade

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a season in two parts for the Detroit Pistons in 2016-17. We’ll dig in for the full picture on his tumultuous season.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a polarizing figure for fans of the Detroit Pistons in 2016-17. As he is entering restricted free agency this summer, fans have been trying to rationalize the idea that he will likely command contract offers worth up to the max, which would be four years and $103 million in total.

KCP didn’t have a season which is easy to encapsulate, nor did he close the season in a manner that will leave fans happy about the hefty bill the organization is about to pay in order to retain him. While over the first 39 games he got off to an excellent start and appeared to have taken the jump the Pistons had hoped of him leading up to his big pay day, the second half of the season was disastrous.

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Over those first 39 games, KCP was averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting 40.4 percent from three-point range. He injured his shoulder in the first couple minutes of a game against the Golden State Warriors on January 12th, however, missed the next four games and never seemed quite the same after that.

In spite of having two of his best scoring games (38 points against the New Orleans Pelicans and 33 points against the Charlotte Hornets), KCP’s numbers dropped precipitously. He scored just 12.9 points per game and hit a woeful 29.7 percent from long range for the rest of the season after his return.

Before the injury, the Pistons were -4.3 per 100 possessions when KCP was off the floor and +0.3 when on, but after the injury the numbers flipped drastically. After his return, the Pistons were an impressive +9.9 when he was off, and a staggering -8.6 when KCP was on the floor. To summarize, the Pistons were +4.6 points per 100 better when he was on the floor before his shoulder injury, and after his return they were a barely believable -18.5 points per 100 worse when he played.

In spite of his torrid start to the season, KCP ended up having a worse overall shooting season in 2016-17 than he did in 2015-16, and his defense suffered as well. By the end of the season, his field goal percentage had dropped to 39.9 percent from 2015-16’s 42 percent, and his true shooting was down from 52.1 percent to a mere 51.9 percent. In addition, only Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond had worse on-court defensive ratings than KCP’s 107.7.

While the Detroit Pistons and Caldwell-Pope might both claim otherwise, that injury mattered, and it played a big role in the season falling apart down the stretch.

To top things off, KCP was arrested on suspicion of DUI a few hours after a late-March game against the Miami Heat.

The worst part of KCP’s late-season death-spiral is that it’s not going to save the Pistons a dollar in restricted free agency. The Brooklyn Nets have stated their intention to make him their top free agent priority, and the Philadelphia 76ers may do something similar. Thanks to the structure of restricted free agency, these teams can offer him the max (the aforementioned four-year $103 million deal) and the Pistons have the right to match.

They’ve indicated that they intend to match any offer up to the max, which may scare away other suitors (any money offered in restricted free agency is essentially locked up for up to 72 hours, meaning the Nets could offer KCP the max and the Pistons could wait the full three days, rendering that money unusable for any other purpose for the duration).

Unfortunately, the disappointing end of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s season casts a pall over what looked to be a breakout campaign of impressive proportions.

Grade: D+

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