The 2018 NBA Manifesto
Luke Kennard
SG - 6’5, 200lbs - 22 years old - 1 year of experience
To view Kennard through the prism of Donovan Mitchell, just because he happened to be taken ahead of him, is both unfair and unhelpful. So I promise I won’t do it for at least two whole stanzas.
Drafted one spot ahead of Mitchell in the 2017 NBA Draft (whoops, sorry), Kennard’s value was supposed to be that of a high-floor shooter. Ready to shoot from day one, apparently. And he was. A 41.5% three-point shooting stroke on a .419% three-point rate is a very good mark for a rookie, and even though they were almost all catch-and-shoots (good shooters are separated from excellent shooters based on whether they can shoot off the dribble and create their own or not, and at Duke, Kennard could), that’s a hot start at the one area of the game it was known he would be good at.
Beyond that, though, the high floor brings with it a low ceiling. Kennard is not especially explosive, and on his forays to rim showed himself to be a very sub-par finisher from there. Some explosion can be gained over the course of an NBA career, but not a huge amount, and Kennard will never be an athlete the calibre of, say, Donovan Mitchell. (Whoops, sorry again.) Defensively, while he knows where to be and rotated well, his individual defence has work to do, and teams will go at him on reputation alone. He has to be ready for that.
At least, though, Kennard brings some offensive nous to the table. He is not just a shooter. Or even if he is, he is a shooter who can create his own out there. Next year, he needs to be empowered to do more of that.
Player Plan: Three years of rookie scale salary remaining. Keep.
Read full article
SG - 6’5, 200lbs - 22 years old - 1 year of experience
To view Kennard through the prism of Donovan Mitchell, just because he happened to be taken ahead of him, is both unfair and unhelpful. So I promise I won’t do it for at least two whole stanzas.
Drafted one spot ahead of Mitchell in the 2017 NBA Draft (whoops, sorry), Kennard’s value was supposed to be that of a high-floor shooter. Ready to shoot from day one, apparently. And he was. A 41.5% three-point shooting stroke on a .419% three-point rate is a very good mark for a rookie, and even though they were almost all catch-and-shoots (good shooters are separated from excellent shooters based on whether they can shoot off the dribble and create their own or not, and at Duke, Kennard could), that’s a hot start at the one area of the game it was known he would be good at.
Beyond that, though, the high floor brings with it a low ceiling. Kennard is not especially explosive, and on his forays to rim showed himself to be a very sub-par finisher from there. Some explosion can be gained over the course of an NBA career, but not a huge amount, and Kennard will never be an athlete the calibre of, say, Donovan Mitchell. (Whoops, sorry again.) Defensively, while he knows where to be and rotated well, his individual defence has work to do, and teams will go at him on reputation alone. He has to be ready for that.
At least, though, Kennard brings some offensive nous to the table. He is not just a shooter. Or even if he is, he is a shooter who can create his own out there. Next year, he needs to be empowered to do more of that.
Player Plan: Three years of rookie scale salary remaining. Keep.
