We're still a little over six weeks before media days and the start of training camps in the NBA, and yet Memphis Grizzlies fans still have a lot to be excited about. On paper, they're set up to be in an excellent position to finish toward the top of the Western Conference standings once again, thanks in part to the addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Ty Jerome and KCP were of course the team's two big additions of the offseason, and it's obvious why they're likely to swing the direction of the Grizzlies. It's not just that both are valuable contributors in an on-court sense, but they also bring extremely useful experience from a leadership standpoint.
Since the start of the Ja Morant era in Memphis, the Grizzlies haven't had a ton of steady veterans in their locker room. You've seen the guys like Steven Adams and Derrick Rose come through, but the list of players who are heavy-minute contributors that also function as leaders and bring championship experience are few and far between.
And that's exactly what the Grizzlies can tap into when it comes to embracing Caldwell-Pope's talent, and his usefulness to the rest of this roster. Sure, KCP isn't going to be the kind of offensive creator that Desmond Bane was, but he's not supposed to be.
The Grizzlies will benefit greatly from the addition of KCP
Caldwell-Pope is going to be the kind of steadying veteran presence that allows his teammates to thrive and become better versions of themselves. He's the perfect player to give you 25 to 30 minutes a night of strong defense while shooting a more than respectable percentage from beyond the arc.
At the end of the day, I believe last year will prove to be a bit of an outlier when it comes to KCP's three-point shooting. On a team like the Grizzlies where there's going to be several other talented shot-makers around him, Caldwell-Pope is primed for a bounce-back campaign.
When Memphis first made their move to acquire him, the reception from around the league was lukewarm at best. The NBA is a very "what have you done for me lately" type of league as it pertains to expectations around any given player. But all that really means is that KCP is primed to vastly exceed expectations, even among Grizzlies fans.
I think most NBA fans are expecting Memphis to be hovering around the seven to nine seed next season, but they forget just how high up in the standings the Grizzlies were for the majority of the year. Adding a leader and high-level role player like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is only going to boost their performance as a team.