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Fantasy Basketball Sleeper: SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

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By @Tidow1212

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Oftentimes in fantasy sports, players on the less popular teams nationally fly under the radar simply because fans just don’t see or hear about them enough to have them on their radar. The savvy owner who pays attention to all teams and looks far into each depth chart is more often than not the owner who wins in fantasy basketball, as the stars typically produce the same numbers every evening. So, it’s the sleepers who fill out your roster who make a huge difference.

Although he has been struggling with his shot lately, make no mistake, Detroit Pistons SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a great addition currently — at the least until Detroit’s top free agent acquisition Jodie Meeks returns from a back injury. Meeks appears to be making progress, but is still at least five weeks away from returning, per reports.

The former Georgia Bulldog standout was taken by the Pistons at eight overall prior to the 2013-14 season. Pope did not play an overwhelming amount of minutes during his rookie campaign (19.8 per game), and although his 5.9 points per game were not incredibly impressive, in fairness, the Pistons were lousy last season and Brandon Jennings was often running the point like a maniac.

Although it’s only three games, Caldwell-Pope looks like a different player in 2014-15 (his sophomore campaign) as he fills in for the aforementioned Meeks. More than 39.3 minutes per game as a starter, he’s averaging 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals. This statline is adequate, especially since Detroit is just beginning to get acclimated to new HC Stan Van Gundy‘s system.

Caldwell-Pope has shot a miserable 26.2 fg percent thus far, yet is still scoring ten points per game, so when he finds his shot, expect closer to 15-plus per game is a fair assumption.Caldwell-Pope is available in 98.8 percent of ESPN leagues and isn’t getting a ton of attention on essentially any redraft host site, so he’s readily available on most waiver wires.

Perhaps he becomes a more appealing option on daily fantasy sites like Fan Duel and Draft Kings, as he is typically priced just above minimum salary cap hit. Any time you can get a player who is starting for their team near minimum price, it is essentially a no-brainer, particularly in GPP tournaments in which finding some bargain value can work wonders and help you load up on stars elsewhere on your roster.

Don’t miss out.

Timothy Downs is a fantasy sports writer for www.RantSports.com. You can ‘like him’ on Facebook add him on Google or follow him on Twitter @Tidow1212.

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