Luke Kennard wants to become a leader for the Detroit Pistons

Detroit Pistons guard Luke Kennard says he wants to become more of a leader for the team moving forward.

During Thursday’s end of season interviews with members of the Detroit Pistons media, Luke Kennard said the following;

Two things will immediately jump out to you after reading that. The first thing being that yes, Luke is actually tied with Langston Galloway as the longest tenured members of the team. Brandon Knight’s previous stint with the team doesn’t exactly count.

The second thing, and the more important one is that he’s setting a goal for himself that the Pistons desperately need. Blake Griffin can only do so much to carry this team to new heights, and with Derrick Rose’s health often being a subject of question, Detroit needs more leaders.

So it makes complete sense that someone, like Kennard, who has slowly begun to emerge into a legitimate offensive threat who forces teams to specifically scheme against him to keep the ball out of his hands, wants to adopt more responsibility.

Heading into this most recent season, he immediately made his presence felt when he scored 30 points in a win against the Pacers on opening night.

His season was cut short around Christmas time when it was announced that he had bilateral knee tendinitis. Kennard didn’t return for the remainder of the season, but he’s said multiple times that he was set to return just days before the season was suspended.

For someone who’s name is constantly brought up in trade talks, it’s encouraging to see that he’s still committed to helping the team work through its current rebuild.

In doing that, he’s not intending on going through the motions, but taking on a bigger role and accepting more responsibility. This is fantastic news.

Heading into his fourth year with the Pistons, fans should expect to see a more involved and more confident player in Kennard. His perimeter play has become his staple, but his play making and facilitating have gotten better with each season that’s passed.

As Detroit tries to navigate through their rebuild, they’re going to need all the leadership they can get.