Washington Wizards: 4 players that could replace Davis Bertans

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Grabbing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as a Bertans “replacement” would mean things really didn’t go well for the Washington Wizards in free agency. He’s too small to truly replace Bertans in the frontcourt. Even in today’s positionless game, KCP is definitively a guard. So he’d be playing second fiddle to Bradley Beal.

But, like Harris, KCP could replace Bertans’ role, not Bertans’ position. As the team’s third-leading scorer, Bertans is the offensive catalyst for one of the NBA’s best bench units. The Wizards rank second in average bench points per game, per NBA.com. If Bertans walks, that unit becomes a whole lot less productive overnight.

Unfortunately, Jordan McRae used to be good for a go-to bucket in though times. But the WIzards dealt him to the Denver Nuggets at the deadline, and now, there’s no walking bucket coming off the bench. That’s where KCP steps in. He and Ish Smith, who knows KCP from the 2016-17 season with the Detroit Pistons, would make quite a dynamic backcourt off the bench.

After blossoming early in his career as a starter with the Pistons, Caldwell Pope has shown he can adjust to a bench role during his last two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. Since moving to the bench, his production per 36 minutes has stayed consistent if not improved.