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Luke Kennard’s offensive game should translate to the NBA

By Greg Tonge

Mar 19, 2017; Greenville, SC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Luke Kennard (5) shoots the ball against South Carolina Gamecocks guard Sindarius Thornwell (0) during the first half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2017; Greenville, SC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Luke Kennard (5) shoots the ball against South Carolina Gamecocks guard Sindarius Thornwell (0) during the first half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Luke Kennard saw a jump in production between his freshmen and sophomore seasons at Duke. His game should allow for a similar jump with the Detroit Pistons.

Luke Kennard has a great chance to make a similar jump in his first season with the Detroit Pistons.

In Kennard’s freshmen year at Duke, his offensive production lacked efficiency. He scored 11.8 points per game on an average of 26.7 minutes. These are solid stats for a freshmen coming off the bench, but his field goal and three point percentages struggled at 42 percent and 31 percent respectively.

Those numbers are much too low for a shooting guard whose strengths all rely on scoring the basketball.

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Staying for his sophomore season has shown to be the correct choice for Kennard. He was able to get more playing time at 35.5 minutes per game and demonstrated his newfound scoring efficiency on a good Duke team that featured the No. 3 overall pick Jayson Tatum.

The extra nine minutes per game that Kennard got led to 19.5 points per game on 49 percent shooting. The three ball also dropped more frequently at an astounding 44 percent.

Another area he shined in was free throw shooting, where he shot 87 percent over his two seasons.

Although Kennard has been regarded by many as the best shooter in the draft, he isn’t just a one-trick pony on offense. Kennard is confident with the ball in his hands, and if a defender over extends on a close-out, he has no problem blowing by to attack the rim.

This is going to be a crucial skill to have if he wants to see some playing time in his first season. Stan Van Gundy himself has said that Kennard will have a lot of work to do on his defense, but a versatile offensive game could earn him some minutes as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s backup.

Next: Luke Kennard could have immediate impact for Pistons

We’ve seen players who have spent two years in college before entering the draft have loads of success in the NBA in the past. Luke Kennard‘s style of play gives him a solid chance to be the next name on that list of successful players.

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