Getty Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks dribbles as Nikola Jokic #15 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #5 of the Denver Nuggets defends.
The Denver Nuggets could lose their fifth starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope similar to what happened last year with Bruce Brown Jr.
Caldwell-Pope, who is expected to decline his $15.4 million player option, has been linked to three Eastern Conference teams, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer.
“Kentavious Caldwell-Pope would seem, at present, to be the veteran in line to benefit from the Magic’s cap space. Caldwell-Pope is also believed to have a potential home in Chicago, should the Bulls ultimately lose out on Williams, in addition to Philadelphia viewing the veteran wing as a backup option,” Fischer wrote on June 21.
Orlando and Philadelphia are two of the five NBA teams with more than $30 million in cap room this offseason. Chicago is actively reshaping its roster, beginning with the Alex Caruso-Josh Giddey swap.
The Magic, who are looking to offer short-term, above-the-market deals to entice free agents, could borrow a page out of the Indiana Pacers’ free-agency playbook last year.
Brown left the Nuggets last year following their 2023 championship run, accepting a balloon payment offer — two-year, $45 million with the second year as a team option — from the Pacers.
Nuggets’ Best Wing Defender
The Nuggets cannot afford to lose Caldwell-Pope, who is their best wing defender.
Denver opponents shot 40.6% when Caldwell-Pope was the closest defender, per Second Spectrum (h/t ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks), the best mark in the regular season among all players to defend more than 500 shots.
On offense, he shot 40.6% from the 3-point range, making him one of the top 3-and-D wings in the league. The 30-year-old Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.1 points 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals across 76 regular-season games.
Caldwell-Pope is also one of the most durable players, missing only 16 regular-season games over the last three seasons. However, his performance dipped in the last playoffs. He struggled to shoot the ball, hitting only 39.5% from the field and 32.7% from the 3-point area.
Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke hinted that they are running it back next season with Caldwell-Pope part of the “league’s best starting five.”
“We think we still have the best starting five in basketball, even though we fell just short this year,” Kroenke said during their season-ending press conference. “Could have gone either way up until the last few minutes. So we don’t think we’re far off.”
Nuggets Options
The Nuggets can go over the cap to extend Caldwell-Pope using his Bird Rights if the veteran wing opts for his player option.
According to Marks, Caldwell-Pope would be eligible to sign a four-year, $96.8 million extension starting July 16 if he exercises the player option.
The Nuggets would become a second-apron team if they successfully bring back Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson ($5.3 million player option), restricting their ability to make significant trades.
If they lose Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets would only have $5.1 million tax midlevel to use to find his replacement. Their other option is an in-house promotion of Christian Braun to their starting unit.
“He obviously has the intangibles and the physical strength and athleticism and defense (to be a starter),” Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said of Braun during their season-ending press conference. “And he’s gonna have to make some improvements, as he has, shooting the ball. But I don’t know how you could see a player in his second year that’s done what he’s done and not think he has a chance of starting. He’s ahead of schedule in that regard.”
The 22-year-old Braun averaged 7.3 points on 46% shooting from the field and 38.4% from the 3-point range in his second season.