Fit with Andre Drummond
Andre Drummond is a free agent this summer but all evidence points to him re-signing. So, it’s great to see that both players work well with him on the floor. Brown is the only one that finds Drummond on rolls consistently and Kennard plays really well off Drummond’s elbow touches.
Drummond has years of experience of playing with guards that aren’t good pull up shooters. He’s mastered the re-screen and knows how to get a defender going under the first screen.
Brown is also a good lob thrower, something that has been seriously lacking from the Pistons offense.
He also plays with pace. He has great stamina and always runs the floor. That goes a long way in utilizing Drummond’s rim running.
Even on made baskets, Drummond can outrun his opponent and get a good position in the paint. Having a point guard that can feed the big man in situations like this is huge. Brown looks for him and makes this beautiful pass right where Drummond wants it.
When Drummond handles the ball, he needs teammates that can get free moving off the ball no matter the coverage. Kennard has a knack of keeping his defender guessing and can change directions to get free. That bodes well with Drummond’s backdoor passing ability.
And Kennard shoots so well from all over the floor that opposing big men have to play up on him, opening lanes for Drummond to roll to the rim.
When Brown and Drummond are running pick & rolls, defenders will naturally gravitate towards the rim. The Pistons can use sets that take advantage of that fact to create open threes for Kennard with simple screens. Help defense won’t be there to take these shots away.
Overall, Brown and Kennard have shown great chemistry together and I hope we’ll continue to see more of it even when other players get healthy.