Nuggets 2023-24 Season Review: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been an incredible glue for the Nuggets in 2023-24. He played an integral role in Denver’s second place starting fifth in net rating during the regular season.

Caldwell-Pope remains one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, an expert screen navigation expert who regularly blows up opponents’ pick-and-rolls and plays. In fact, 2023-24 may have been his best defensive season to date; he was just a few votes short of being named to one of the two All-Defensive teams.

On the other end of the court, he was an elite 3-and-D player who can do a little more, especially in the middle of the court.

KCP started the year with a great performance, scoring 20 points and adding 3 steals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nuggets Ring Night. He later recorded a season-high 5 steals against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In November, Kenny P had 7 assists and scored 15 points in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. He then scored a season-high 8 dimes a week later.

From November 20 to December 1, he had a streak of seven games with double-digit points. He scored 20 goals in two of those games: November 20 against the Detroit Pistons and November 24 against the Houston Rockets.

Caldwell-Pope closed out the season with two great performances. On March 31, against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he scored 20 points, making 7 of 10 shots, and also had 4 assists and 3 rebounds. He shot 6 of 9 from deep, which was his season-best three-pointer at the time.

KCP tied his season high for three-pointers made by hitting 6 of 9 from long range against the Hawks on April 6. He scored a season-high 24 points, making 9 of 12 from the field. He also made 2 interceptions in Atlanta.

In the postseason, Caldwell-Pope had an important fourth game in the first round. Scored 14 points and had 4 steals in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers.

An inning later, he played a big role in Denver’s 15-point road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5. Kenny P scored 16 points on 6 of 8 shots, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

For third time in four seasonsKCP shot at least 40 percent from three-point range.

He shot a career-high 46%. midrange.

Caldwell-Pope shot 89.4% from the field, a career-high Free throw line. He was Denver’s leading free-throw shooter.

Overall this season, he shot 40.6 percent from three and 89.4 percent from the free throw line. Among Denver players to make at least 100 free throws and 100 three-pointers in a season, the only other player to achieve that mark is Chauncey Billups, who did so in the 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons.

KCP is the second Nuggets player to have at least 90 steals and 90 made three-pointers in each of his first two seasons with the team. The other is Michael Adams, who did it all four seasons in Denver (1987-88 to 1990-91).

Denver was plus 13.4 points per 100 possessions better offensively when Caldwell-Pope was on the floor. This is the best sign offensive effectiveness in his careerand only Jokić did greater impact on Denver’s offense.

Over the past two seasons, the Nuggets are 105-47 (.691) in regular-season games started by Caldwell-Pope. This is the third-most wins by an active NBA starter since the 2022-2023 season.