Luke Kennard Discussion

41% but I think Luke's presence on the court does give players more space than ever to shoot on the Lakers. He's probably the only sniper the Lakers have had since LeBron's time that can actually hit threes and you're not surprised by it.

Malik was supposed to be that guy but he couldn't handle the spotlight

I don't expect the Lakers to be #2 in 3 point shooting, though. Top 15 would be more than sufficient for what the Lakers have. Luka's been hitting some unimaginably difficult 3's that shouldn't be going in so it'll average itself out

 

Every single person on the coaching staff needs to tell Luke that if he’s open and wants to make the extra pass, he should never, ever, ever, ever, ever, never, pass it to Vando for a three. Shoot the rock kid!

 

FTFY

 

In a way, I love that part of Kennard's game. He's unselfish and just plays good basketball.

As good of a shooter he is, he could easily take 6-9 threes per game and no one would bat an eye.

 

The curse caught up with our guy

 

Knew it...

 

Meh.
Small sample size- let’s not overreact.

 

A little too loose with his passing - feels like he not used to playing big intensity games. Need to adjust a bit as he's very good at attacking the closeout but with these good teams playing playoff like ball you got to adjust

 

yeah, he had a clown show drive and turnover that was very atypical of him from what i've seen.

 

Looked like he had trouble with Rockets length and speed out there. Rockets did a great job closing out so those slight hesitations were easy turnovers. Luka also made a few bad ones and so did Reaves.

I'm annoyed by how unselfish he is. Almost like he doesn't want to make a mistake out there. Way too many times he passes up a good 3 by his own standard to get another player that shot. If he was passing it up to Steph or Klay, I'd understand but more often than not, Luke's shot is probably the most efficient shot there. I remember when Vando got minutes he would pump fake a good open 3 to get Vando a corner 3 shot... not necessary

He should be hoisting up 5 threes minimum per game with the Lakers big 3 drawing attention.

 

I've said it many times, this guy should be throwing them up way more. Give me 8 attempts a game. For all the slander Klay gets, his defense isn't worse and he isn't afraid to shoot - wish Kennard had that same gunner mentality off the bench.

 

interestingly, he's pretty close to his per-36 3pfga numbers with us. iow, he's never really been a high volume shooter. most he ever took per game was 6.5, and that was on 27mpg (and his lowest %, though still 40, lol).

so it's kind of an untested theory that he could scale all the way up without efficiency drops that cancel it out?

 

depends on the size of the drop for me. i actually like that he looks to drive and finish or kick on overplays, and i feel like he probably knows when he's got a clean look vs. when he's unlikely to hit.

in short, to sort of respond to svtzr...i'm glad kennard isn't thompson? thompson's lack of passing or finishing threat limits him offensively, imo. then again, stats say that you're right and that thompson is still the more effective offensive player. so damn my eyes.

 

I don’t think he’ll keep the efficiency, I’ve said many times I’d rather 10 attempts at 37% than 4 attempts on 45%.

 

Thompson is still the better player, it’s jsut that he started his drop from such a high level that the decline is so noticeable.

But as a 7th or 8th player off the bench, Klay is still fantastic. He can defend bench guys well and still can get you 15 pts off the bench with a really hot game every so often.

If we lose Kennard in the offseason, it would be ironic if Klay gets bought out and signs here for the minimum to finally get to play with Luka.

 

That's true but I do think if you're playing with Luka, Reaves, and LeBron, the opportunities are just going to be there naturally. The ball will find him but even when it does, he seems hesitant. Just no reason to be so when his shooting is as good as it is.

On the bright side, at least his shooting threat makes everyone else more open as well so it counts for something