Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel confirmed on Monday afternoon that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be the likely answer at starting shooting guard, replacing Avery Bradley, who opted out of the restart.
Vogel’s reasoning is pretty sound considering the Lakers went 17-3 in games that KCP started and that KCP played even better when thrust into the starting role, shooting 43% from the 3-point line and over 50% from the field. Of course, he also saw his minutes creep up from 24 minutes per game to 28 minutes per game as a starter. But he actually improved with the bigger role asked of him.
Many fans may be hoping to see Alex Caruso in the starting line-up, but it appears that Caruso will continue in his role coming off the bench, something he’s excelled at all season. In addition to Caruso, the Lakers have Quinn Cook and Dion Waiters, who both have experience at the NBA level running the show for their offenses. Waiters, in particular, is a monster player in the pick and roll and could be asked to do even more traditional point guard duty than the Lakers originally envisioned.
