Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was in court on Wednesday for a substance abuse evaluation and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, stemming from his traffic stop in late March.
Caldwell-Pope was pulled over and arrested early morning on March 29 on suspicion of drunk driving. He was eventually charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, which was later dropped last month. Caldwell-Pope ultimately pled guilty to a lesser charge of allowing a person to drive under the influence, in addition to one for careless driving.
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Below is dashcam video from the Auburn Hills Police Department of the night Caldwell-Pope was pulled over and arrested. He registered a blood alcohol content level of nearly 0.1, just above the Michigan legal limit of 0.08.
With the probation sentencing, Caldwell-Pope will be “under the supervision of a probation officer during the time frame and he will need the court’s permission to leave the state of his primary residence.”
The soon-to-be restricted free agent will be subject to the NBA’s substance abuse policy and the league will reportedly be conducting its own investigation into the matter.
How much, if at all, it affects his market this off-season remains to be seen. Caldwell-Pope continued to play and finish the season after the traffic stop in late March. As an RFA, the Pistons can match an offer made to KCP on the open market and a report back in April would suggest that Detroit would be willing to match any offer to retain their three-point and defensive specialist.
Should neither A) he and his agent reach a deal with the Pistons, or B) not receive any offer from another team and not reach a deal with Detroit, he can sign a one-year qualifying offer for next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018.
Caldwell-Pope, 24, in 76 games last season for the Pistons averaged 13.8 points while shooting a career-best 35 percent from three-point land. Through his first four seasons, he’s averaged 11.8 PPG while knocking down 33.4 percent of his three-point attempts.
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