The Magic have many strengths, but 3-point shooting is not one of them. For the season, the Magic are the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, converting only 31.4 percent of their 11.1 attempts per game. Pretty much every player on the team has struggled to make threes throughout the season, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Caldwell-Pope’s struggles have hit the Magic especially hard. He was the team’s prized offseason addition—a proven veteran who could add championship experience and much-needed shooting to the Magic’s young roster while also fitting in well defensively. For most of the season, Caldwell-Pope has not looked like the 3-point threat he was in Los Angeles and Denver, however.
The narrative around the Magic’s big offseason move flipped quickly. At first, signing Caldwell-Pope in free agency was deemed one of the best moves of the offseason. That changed when he could not deliver the promised 3-point shooting and the Magic fell in the standings. Instead of one of the best offseason moves, signing Caldwell-Pope quickly seemed like a decision that backfired.
Now, Caldwell-Pope may be ready to flip the narrative once again.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has finally found his shot
While the Magic may not be able to accomplish most of the goals they had set for the season, they can still do one major thing: get to the playoffs and gather postseason experience for the future. After all, most players on the roster only played a maximum of seven playoffs over their careers. To do that, the Magic need to finish the season strong, preferably in seventh place in the standings, and battle their way through the Play-In Tournament.
The final four games of the regular season will be crucial. Fortunately, Caldwell-Pope rediscovered his shot just in time. Over the last ten games, he is shooting 52.2 percent from three, making a total of 24 threes, and scoring 10.3 points per game. He finally looks like the player the Magic were hoping to get when they signed him this summer.
The rest of the season is not just a chance for the Magic to gather valuable experience but also for Caldwell-Pope to change the narrative around his time with the Magic. If he can continue to shoot the three well and play a key role in the Magic’s journey to the playoffs, the signing will look much better again. When his threes are falling, Caldwell-Pope is the perfect role player for the Magic.