Overview
- Per multiple reports, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope exercised his $21.6 million player option for 2026-27 on Friday, keeping him under contract with the Memphis Grizzlies for one more season.
- The option places Caldwell-Pope in the final year of a three-year deal he signed in 2024 and sets him to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2027.
- Spotrac figures cited by coverage showed Memphis was about $1.2 million over the salary cap before the option was picked up, so the added $21.6 million materially tightens the team’s offseason flexibility.
- Caldwell-Pope is widely viewed as a likely trade candidate because his deal now expires after 2026-27, he does not match the timeline of Memphis’s youth movement, and his production and three-point shooting have declined after a season-ending right-pinky surgery.
- A two-time champion and veteran perimeter defender, Caldwell-Pope offers leadership for Memphis’s young roster and could be used to acquire draft picks or younger players as the Grizzlies reshape their core during the coming draft and free-agency window.