Detroit Pistons: Luke Kennard is not just another Kyle Singler

Due to some physical similarities and a shared alma mater, Detroit Pistons’ rookie Luke Kennard has drawn comps to Kyle Singler. Let’s set those to rest.

In the run-up to the draft, Luke Kennard drew derisive comparisons from Detroit Pistons fans to former Piston Kyle Singler. Both white, both from Duke, both reputed to be shooters. Singler didn’t quite work out for the Pistons, and he’s been much worse for his current team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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At Duke, Singler played four season, averaging 16.2 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the floor and 36.3 percent from three-point range. He had a true shooting percentage of 54.8 percent over the course of his career on usage of 24.8 percent. As a forward, he had a mediocre rebounding percentage of just 10.8 percent and a steal percentage of just 1.5 percent.

Singler didn’t really stand out in any measurable or worthwhile way. Conversely, Kennard’s freshman season was drastically improved upon in his sophomore season. As a sophomore, Kennard averaged 19.5 points per game, shooting 49 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from long range. His true shooting percentage came in at 63 percent. As a 6’5″ guard, Kennard had an acceptable rebounding rate of 8.2 percent. As for his steal rate, well, the defense needs some work.

Kennard was both more judicious about where his shots came from, and more efficient with them. He took 41.5 percent of his field goal attempts from three-point range, better than Singler’s 37.9 in his senior season. Kennard also had a superior free throw rate (free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts) of 38.6 percent versus Singler’s 30.5 percent.

Next: Luke Kennard fills major need for the Detroit Pistons

Pistons fans may be tempted to make the obvious connection between Kennard and Singler, but from everything we know thus far, Kennard is a better player (and much better at the things he does well) than Kyle Singler ever was.