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A tribute to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

By Duncan Smith

AUBURN HILLS, MI - MARCH 30: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
AUBURN HILLS, MI - MARCH 30: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope /
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After the Detroit Pistons traded Marcus Morris to the Boston Celtics for Avery Bradley, the Detroit Pistons cut ties with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

In one of the surprises of the offseason, the Detroit Pistons cut ties with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a week into free agency. After a trade with the Boston Celtics yielded them Avery Bradley, the Pistons had the ability to pivot away from KCP’s potentially expensive contract and quickly renounced his rights, making him an unrestricted free agent.

KCP took huge strides in the first half of last season, shooting over 40 percent from three-point range as late as mid-January. He was becoming the player Pistons fans had hoped he could be and more, quickly justifying the huge contract he expected to command this summer.

He hurt his shoulder on January 13th, and whether that injury played a role or not, he never really regained his form with any consistency. That injury and subsequent swoon may have cost him an untold sum of money, and we’ll always be left wondering what could have been if his 2016-17 season didn’t crash and burn like that of the Pistons.

There were a couple games last season, particularly after sustaining his injury, where it looked like he had found his full stride and was reaching the breadth of his potential. Perhaps no game displayed the scope of his abilities more than a late February comeback win over the Charlotte Hornets at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Sunday night I did a Twitter thread, with video included, on KCP’s fantastic game.

Next: Stan Van Gundy coveted Avery Bradley