Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (PG/SG, LAL): Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups

Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 18 of the NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 19% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The Lakers have just welcomed Anthony Davis back to the lineup, and not only that, but they already put him in the starting five this past Thursday against the Mavs when he manned the PF position from the get-go. That, good for us KCP truthers, have not much impact on the guard's game and opportunities, as he plays at the exact opposite end of the spectrum roaming around the guard positions.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a daily fixture--to say the least--in Lakers fives. He has started every freaking game he's played this season, and that's already 55 and counting. Looking only at games held this month (11 of them through Friday), KCP is averaging a more than bulky 33 MPG while putting up a reasonable 27 FPG. That's not bad at all considering his usage rates of 17% in that span on average and the fact that he's bouncing between 5 and 20 shots nightly with an average of 11 FGA a day.

The good thing from KCP's game is that although it is clearly not the most efficient out there (0.81 FP/min), that's only because of his bonkers minutes of playing time, and you know what that means: the numbers end getting racked up if only because of those sky-high minutes. That's why KCP is dropping 15 (!) PPG in April and has scored double-digit pops in  8 of his last 11 (average of 19 PPG in those eight matches). KCP is a killer from long range (37 combined three-pointers this month for an average of 3.3+ 3PG) and he's hit 5, 5, and 6 threes in his last three outings. The steals upside is high too, and he barely turns the ball over, making him a great target in 9-cat leagues too.

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