The Nuggets relinquished quite a bit in a trade with the Wizards to get Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on an expiring contract.
Probably because Denver knew it could lock him into a contract extension.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has agreed on a two-year, $30M extension with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2022
Deal includes a player option in the second year, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2022
Presuming Caldwell-Pope isn’t getting more than a 5% raise from his $14,004,703 salary for next season into the first year of his extension, he’d still be eligible to get re-traded.
That clearly isn’t the plan, though. Caldwell-Pope’s perimeter defense, 3-point shooting and cutting should fit nicely with especially Nikola Jokic but also Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.
With Jokic signing his super-max extension and now Caldwell-Pope signing an extension, Denver has that starting lineup locked in two more seasons. Caldwell-Pope – despite being the latest to agree to a deal – actually has the first out with his 2024 player option. Jokic, Murray, Porter and Gordon are all locked in through at least 2025.
