A brutal, extended shooting slump defined the opening weeks of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's season, ultimately costing the veteran his starting job. Even when he managed to put points on the board, his inefficiency actively hurt the team. Take the 10/22 vs NOP matchup, where he tallied a stretch-high 15 points but still posted a -4.5 Impact. That negative score was driven entirely by the hidden costs of his erratic shot selection, as he clanked his way to a 2-for-8 shooting night from the floor. The bottom completely fell out on 11/13 vs BOS. A scoreless, lifeless performance yielded a disastrous -11.4 Impact, forcing the coaching staff to finally move him to the second unit. Unfortunately, the demotion hasn't fixed his broken jumper, as seen on 11/21 vs SAC when another dreadful 1-for-6 shooting night dragged him down to a -6.2 Impact.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spent this mid-season stretch navigating a wildly erratic bench role where his actual court value rarely aligned with his raw point totals. Take the 12/01 vs SAC matchup, where he dropped a highly efficient 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Despite that offensive punch, his -4.3 Impact score revealed a player bleeding value, likely giving up too much ground on defensive rotations to justify his minutes. Conversely, he occasionally found ways to stay afloat when his jumper completely abandoned him. During the 12/16 vs LAC contest, Caldwell-Pope managed a meager 4 points but still scratched out a +0.1 Impact by pivoting to a gritty facilitator role, crashing the glass for 7 rebounds and dishing 6 assists. When his two-way game finally synchronized, he was lethal. He torched the net on 01/03 vs LAL, burying 4-of-6 triples to tally 20 points and generate a massive +13.4 Impact through elite shot-making.