Los Angeles Lakers: Power ranking the team’s top players after Week 1

5. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

The main reason Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finds himself at No. 5 here is that he missed the first two games of the season due to suspension. Since his return to the lineup against the New Orleans Pelicans, he’s been a positive presence for the Lakers.

In his first game back, he dropped 20 points for Los Angeles while making a significant impact in the 3-and-D role. Although his scoring wasn’t as dramatic in his second outing, Caldwell-Pope made several outstanding defensive plays down the stretch, allowing the Lakers to stay within striking distance of the Washington Wizards.

As he gets back into the flow of things, I’m assuming we’re going to see more and more excitement from the Lakers’ top free agent signing. He’s already delivered in the clutch on a couple of occasions, and has made the most of his opportunities from deep (41.7 percent from downtown).

Magic Johnson knew he was getting a good one when he spent big bucks on Caldwell-Pope this offseason. Let’s just hope that he can deliver on a consistent basis, which wasn’t always the case during his days with the Detroit Pistons.

It won’t be long before we see KCP much higher on this list. I can assure you of that.