Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will reportedly exercise his player option for the 2026-27 season.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will exercise his player option for the 2026-27 season worth about $21.6 million, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
Barring a trade, the move ensures that Caldwell-Pope's tenure with the Grizzlies will last more than just one season. The 2025-26 campaign was his first in Memphis after he bounced around from a few different teams in previous years.
Caldwell-Pope is known as a strong role player when he's at his best. His contributions have helped two NBA teams win championships during his career. His first ring came with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, and his second ring came with the Denver Nuggets in 2023. He was a starter during each of those championship runs.
This past season with the Grizzlies, he spent time as both a starter and bench piece, but a majority of his appearances came off the bench. The season was a bit of a mixed bag for him. He averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, but he struggled to be super efficient, shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from beyond the arc.
His shooting struggles certainly impacted his ability to be at his best. Caldwell-Pope has the skill set to be a 3-and-D player, but that obviously can't be the case when his shots aren't falling.
In his last six seasons before joining the Grizzlies, he shot 39.2 percent from long range, an extremely respectable mark that forces defenses to worry about him. He will look to get back to those heights in the 2026-27 campaign.
The veteran must've felt that his market value was going to be lower than the roughly $21.6 million he'll make by opting into his deal. Or, it's also possible that he simply valued getting a chance to return to Memphis for another season.
Caldwell-Pope's up-and-down campaign aside, the Grizzlies had a season to forget themselves. They won just 25 games and failed to earn a playoff spot in the Western Conference, marking the second time in three years in which they missed the postseason.
But the 2026-27 season could look different if Memphis acquires some help this summer and has better injury luck in the new campaign. One big chance for the organization to improve its outlook will come in the 2026 NBA Draft next week, an event headlined for the Grizzlies by the fact that they will have the No. 3 overall selection.
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