The Detroit Pistons are finally going to unleash Kennard, per SVG
The Detroit Pistons have been stymieing rookie Luke Kennard. Stan Van Gundy has a short leash and Kennard has been no exception. However, with the Pistons plummeting in the standing, and Kennard playing well, Stan Van Gundy is finally going to give Kennard more minutes and/or a larger role, or so he says.
The Detroit Pistons have not unleashed Luke Kennard yet, despite how much we’ve been asking the team to.
Despite Kennard’s stellar performances in limited minutes and role, Van Gundy has insisted on giving him the rookie treatment.
It appears that will no longer be the case.
"“We’re going to do more and more for him, no question about it,” Van Gundy said. “He’s a skilled guy, he can read the defense, he can shoot and handle it and pass it.”"
I want to go on the record as saying that Van Gundy made very similar comments about Henry Ellenson, who started the season phenomenally.
Ellenson may be a defensive liability, but on this team, with what he is capable of, he should be playing.
In fact, all of the Pistons young players should be getting a look, because this team is clearly not going to win this season, and it’s time to start giving the younger players an opportunity to show what they have got.
All this to say, I will believe Van Gundy when I see it regarding Kennard’s role/playing time–and even then, I won’t believe it until the increased minutes last the duration of the season, and not just for a few games, as with Ellenson.
It’s really hard for young players to do anything with such a short leash, few minutes, and inconsistent playing time at that.
That’s probably my biggest pet peeve with Van Gundy so far, the lack of development/playing time of young players, despite a total lack of success.
I hope Van Gundy stays true to his word. Kennard deserves a bigger role, and he deserves to play a lot of minutes.
Next: It’s time for the Pistons to unleash Luke Kennard
In fact, he’s shown enough to make me feel that he is the shooting guard of the future, not Avery Bradley. As such, I would look to salvage as much value as I possibly could by trading Bradley now, versus letting him walk in free agency for nothing.