NBA Trade Rumors: LA Lakers shopping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ahead of March 25 deadline

The LA Lakers haven't made any significant roster changes of late, but the latest NBA trade rumors suggest that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be on the move. Frank Vogel's unit needs a few upgrades following LeBron James' injury and trading Caldwell-Pope could be a way to acquire useful pieces.

Well-known NBA personality Rob Perez hosted a voice chat room on Twitter last night with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst and Bobby Marks. During the live broadcast, Windhorst mentioned that the LA Lakers are shopping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Windhorst just said it’s not a secret the Lakers are shopping KCP. They’re also confident in getting Drummond if he’s bought out.

— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) March 23, 2021

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played a crucial role for the LA Lakers in their championship run in the bubble. As a result, he was rewarded with a three-year $40 million contract this offseason.

NBA Trade Rumors: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's declining impact on the LA Lakers

KCP's output could suffer due to LeBron's injury

While he did have a strong start to the 2020-21 campaign, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has struggled a lot from the field in the last two months. Since February, he's averaging just 7.8 points on 38.3% shooting from the field. In fact, his season average of 8.4 points per game is KCP's worst tally since his rookie year.

Caldwell-Pope's production going forward has been fairly limited. He has thrived on the LA Lakers' rotation offensively by playing off of LeBron James. He's relied on King James' distribution a lot and 89.3% of his field goals made this season have been assisted. KCP isn't known for his playmaking skills either.

Man KCP had a wide open lay up 🤦🏾‍♂️😫🤣 pic.twitter.com/5fEfv7zXpj

— Famouslos32 (@famouslos32) March 19, 2021

Having said that, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's mid-sized contract, championship experience and defensive ability make him a good prospect for other playoff hopefuls.

The LA Lakers won't be too eager to trade him though. Caldwell-Pope has been through several inconsistent spells during his tenure in the City of Angels. If the Purple and Gold don't get a reasonable upgrade in exchange for KCP, they'll probably prefer to stick with him and hope that he comes good again.

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