After Donovan Mitchell’s recent performances, Pistons fans have been upset about the Detroit Pistons picking Luke Kennard over him. While the argument is valid, there are reasons why we took Kennard, and he’s shown plenty of promise so far.
Donovan Mitchell recently scored 41 points, making Detroit fans reel with regret for passing on him. This performance has led to fans trashing Luke Kennard for no good reason, as he has done more than enough to warrant being the 12th pick on a 14-8 team. Let’s go over a few points of why we should still be thankful for Kennard.
College Years
To start, we’re going to look back at his two years in Duke. His freshman year he played 26.7 minutes per game. He had 11.8 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Kennard shot 42 percent from the field and 32 percent from deep. He had a usage percentage of 21.4 and his true shooting was 55 percent. Shooting nearly 89 percent on 99 free throws helped raise that. His shooting was pretty inefficient.
However, Kennard’s sophomore year was drastically different. To start, his minutes increased by nearly ten, up to 35.5 per game, his shot jumped to right below 49 percent, and his rose to 43 percent. Virtually all of his stats took a jump, as did his usage, rising to 24 percent. Kennard now scored nearly 20 points, grabbed 5.1 boards, and dished out 2.5 assists per game.
You can see the jump quite clearly. With an increase in usage, you generally see a drop in efficiency. Nonetheless, Kennard’s efficiency increased substantially, along with every stat other than steals and blocks. Kennard is a prospect, and he could very well grow to be a gunslinger in this league, hopefully with average defense. Kennard has great work ethic.
He also led the ACC in scoring and win shares (6th in the NCAA) his sophomore year. He was the 2016-17 Consensus All American (second team), a 2016-17 Naismith Award Semifinalist, and a 2016-17 Wooden Award finalist.
Summer League
I won’t lie, before draft night I’d never heard the name Luke Kennard. I immediately searched up scouting reports and highlight videos. That’s where my excitement began to build, but it peaked while watching him go to work in the summer league. Luke Kennard and Henry Ellenson put on clinics throughout the first four games, and carried us to the championship game, where we lost to Dallas in a close one.
Kennard averaged 17.2 points per game on 46.5 percent from the field. And if my memory serves me (they don’t record all stats), his 3 point percentage should be upwards of that. He also showed an affinity for steals that surprised me due to the lack of defense that he was known for, grabbing 1.40 steals per game. He also grabbed 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists through 30.6 minutes per game. And to add on to a good summer league performance, Stan Van Gundy was quoted praising the young guard’s defense.
“Even in summer league, the very first practice, I got this feeling like he was going to be a lot better than I thought defensively and watching for the three weeks, he’s not a below average guy in terms of moving his feet.” Van Gundy continued, “He can move his feet, he’s got decent size, he’s strong, he actually should develop into a good defender and it should be a strength of his as he learns systems and rotations. He should be at least an average if not an above average defender very quickly.”
Regular Season
Starting off, he’s gotten about as much minutes as we could reasonably want, and he’s shown off his offensive skill set with what he’s got. Kennard’s stat-line consists of 16.5 minutes per game, 6.5 points per game, 1.6 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 45 percent form the field and 41 percent from deep. This is with an 18.8 usage percentage.
Luke showed his prowess in his debut, and the only thing I could think to pick at offensively is his hesitation to take the three-point shot, although that doesn’t show in the highlights. I think it’d do him best to shoot like Tobias Harris, that’s a nitpick though. His defense has been stellar compared to what we all expected, if it wasn’t Van Gundy wouldn’t let him touch the hardwood.
Instead of regretting passing on Mitchell, why don’t we celebrate that we have a hardworking talent? We should make this kid want to stay in Detroit, not leave. Make him love it, and turn him into the kind of player we all want, an offensive gunslinger with gritty defense. Maybe I’m in the minority with what I see in Kennard, but I still think I’m right on this one. He’s not another J.J. Redick, or Kyle Korver, or any other stereotypical white shooting guard out of college. He could be a corner piece, hopefully we realize that and keep him here.