Kentavious Caldwell-Pope says his return to enjoying significant basketball was the driving drive behind signing with the Philadelphia 76ers, the place he’ll reunite with longtime teammate LeBron James as a part of one of many NBA’s most aggressive offseason roster rebuilds.
Talking on The Dawg Speak Podcast, Caldwell-Pope made it clear that his precedence is competing for one more championship after spending final season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I simply wish to get again to enjoying significant basketball. Like enjoying for one thing such as you saying for one more championship,” he stated. “I say that space once more, that highlight, you recognize, the playoffs, man. Ain’t nothing prefer it, man. And within the competitors just like the competitiveness simply I need it. I nonetheless acquired a whole lot of years in me that I can nonetheless go.”
Caldwell-Pope reached a buyout settlement with the Grizzlies and cleared waivers. He signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract, becoming a member of a revamped 76ers roster led by President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey.
The transfer reunites Caldwell-Pope with James, his teammate on the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers squad that captured the NBA championship contained in the Orlando bubble. Caldwell-Pope later gained a second title with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, giving him championship expertise alongside two completely different franchises.
Philadelphia’s entrance workplace has reworked the roster over the previous month. The 76ers first acquired Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster commerce centered round Paul George earlier than landing James in free agency on a two-year, $8 million contract. To create roster flexibility beneath the NBA’s luxurious tax apron guidelines, the franchise waived Dalen Terry and traded Johni Broome to the Los Angeles Clippers for money issues earlier than finalizing the additions of James and Caldwell-Pope.
Whereas Caldwell-Pope is not the offensive contributor he was earlier in his profession, he stays a revered perimeter defender and flooring spacer. In 51 video games with Memphis throughout the 2025-26 season, he averaged 8.4 factors, 2.7 assists and a couple of.5 rebounds whereas capturing 41.0% from the sphere and 31.6% from three-point vary earlier than his season ended following finger surgical procedure.
Throughout 13 NBA seasons, Caldwell-Pope has appeared in 963 video games, averaging 11.0 factors, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 36.5% capturing from past the arc. His résumé contains two NBA championships and a status as a reliable two-way position participant able to defending opposing perimeter stars.
