Nuggets’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope declines $15.4 million player option, enters free agency – Boulder Daily Camera

Nuggets’ Caldwell-Pope to Enter Free AgencyNuggets’ Caldwell-Pope to Enter Free Agency Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (31), the Denver Nuggets shooting guard, will decline his $15.4 million player option and enter unrestricted free agency, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post. Caldwell-Pope has spent the last two seasons in Denver, acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards. He has been a key contributor, averaging 10.1 points on 40.6% 3-point shooting, and was a finalist for NBA Teammate of the Year and received All-Defensive Team votes. The Nuggets will attempt to re-sign Caldwell-Pope, but he is expected to draw a significant market. General manager Calvin Booth has expressed confidence in Christian Braun as a potential replacement if Caldwell-Pope departs. Through his 11-year career, Caldwell-Pope has missed only 46 regular season games. He excels in defensive play, spending 49% of his time guarding scoring ball handlers, the fourth-highest percentage in the league. Keeping or losing Caldwell-Pope will significantly impact Denver’s championship aspirations. His five-man lineup with Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic has a high net rating in the regular season but struggled in the 2024 playoffs. Braun has shown promise as a potential replacement, with a positive net rating when paired with Jokic. Coach Michael Malone emphasized Braun’s shooting ability as a crucial factor for NBA success. Free agency negotiations begin Sunday at 4:00 p.m. MT. Booth acknowledges the challenge of replacing Caldwell-Pope but believes the team can continue to succeed with Braun in the starting lineup.

Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (27) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) embrace after the fourth quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 98-90 win at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will decline his $15.4 million player option and enter unrestricted free agency as expected, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post.

Caldwell-Pope, 31, has spent the last two seasons in Denver after being acquired in a trade that sent Monte Morris and Will Barton to the Wizards. With a tough defense and creative leadership tactics in the locker room, KCP proved to be the final piece Denver’s starting lineup needed to win the 2023 NBA Championship. He averaged 10.1 points on 40.6% 3-point shooting this season, was a finalist for NBA Teammate of the Year and received 11 All-Defensive Team votes after helping the Nuggets improve from the 15th-ranked defense in the competition to the eighth best.

Denver will attempt to re-sign Caldwell-Pope in free agency, but he is expected to draw a significant market that will make him difficult to retain. On Wednesday night after the first round of the draft, general manager Calvin Booth predicted a scenario in which Denver does not retain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, expressing confidence in Christian Braun as the potential next man up.

“I think we have to look at everything, and the nature of free agency is that he’s unrestricted,” Booth said. “So we can try to bring him back, and if he doesn’t want to come back or wants to go somewhere else, that’s his prerogative. So we’ll have to work with that. But I think we’re willing to plug and play, so to speak.”

The Nuggets have Caldwell-Pope’s Bird rights, which allows them to match other teams’ offers even if it means paying more in luxury taxes. But if they re-sign him, they will likely pass the second tax moratorium, even after Thursday’s salary dump trade of Reggie Jackson to Charlotte. Becoming a second apron would impose several restrictions on roster construction. One is that the Nuggets will no longer be allowed to send Caldwell-Pope in a sign-and-trade for another player.

Through the first 11 years of his career, Caldwell-Pope has missed just 46 regular season games. According to data from Synergy Sports, he spent 49% of his defensive time on the ball against a scoring ball handler this season — the fourth-highest percentage of any defender in the league. Denver has relied heavily on him to defend opponents, and he finished 2023-24 with a 44% defensive field goal percentage.

Keeping or losing Caldwell-Pope is essentially a matter of whether Denver’s championship starting unit will stay together for a third season after its playoff disappointment in 2024. Caldwell-Pope’s five-man lineup , Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic posted an exceptional net rating of plus-13.6 in the regular season while playing a combined 958 minutes – more than any five-man lineup in the past six NBA -seasons. But in 274 playoff minutes, their combined net rating was minus-6.0. Denver was eliminated by the Timberwolves in the second round, with Caldwell-Pope shooting and defending below his usual level.

Booth on Wednesday called Braun’s net rating an encouraging indicator of the 23-year-old’s ability to replace Caldwell-Pope in the starting lineup if necessary. Braun’s individual net rating for the 2023-24 season was just 0.7 compared to Caldwell-Pope’s 11.3, but Braun played primarily with bench lineups while Caldwell-Pope shared the court with league MVP Nikola Jokic for 91% of his minutes.

In the small sample size of 28 minutes that Braun was used in a five-man lineup alongside Denver’s other four starters, the Nuggets outscored their opponents by 8.6 points per 100 possessions. Most importantly, when Braun shared the court with Jokic (47% of his minutes), his net rating was 15.4. Coach Michael Malone used Braun in closing lineups several times during the Minnesota series, instead of Porter.

“I think for Christian Braun it all comes down to one thing,” Malone said at his season-ending press conference. “As a shooting guard in the NBA, you have to be able to shoot. It’s the essence.”

Free agency negotiations between all teams and players are allowed to begin Sunday at 4:00 p.m. MT.

“I think if you look at some of the teams that have done well in the past, they’ve got to find a way to replace the fourth, fifth starter, sixth guy off the bench and still keep going,” Booth said. “… I think if (Braun) has to step into the starting lineup, we’ll be fine, if KCP doesn’t come back.”