The Orlando Magic pulled off a huge coup when they added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to their ranks this summer, and the two-time NBA champion already likes what he has seen from his new team, so much so that he threw some shade on his former teams.

“This is the first team that I’ve been on where everybody likes to defend. That’s exciting for me. It makes me want to compete even more on that end. I’m just looking forward to being that team that’s going to be hard to score on. That (says a lot) in this league. A team that gets stops wins games,” Caldwell-Pope stated via Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
Fans have deduced that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s comments could be a shot towards LeBron James and Nikola Jokic since both haven’t played a lot of high-level defense consistently in the past few years.

Now that he’s with a younger team in the Orlando Magic, Caldwell-Pope will be a key veteran presence for the squad because of his 3-and-D skills and championship experience.
Before coming to the Orlando Magic, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a decent 2023-24 campaign with the Denver Nuggets, averaging 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals on 46/41/89 shooting splits in 76 regular season games.
Orlando Magic were one of the top defensive teams last season
The Orlando Magic made it to the postseason last year because they were one of the best defensive teams, posting a 110.8 defensive rating, good for third behind the Boston Celtics (110.6) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (108.4).

During the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers, that number improved to 100, the best mark in the playoffs.
If Orlando plans to make good on Paolo Banchero’s Top 3 claim earlier this summer this year, they will have to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court.