After the the NBA trade deadline expired, goodbyes were shared and emotions recalibrated, Pistons guard Luke Kennard scanned a situation that, in a matter of 12 hours, put the ball entirely in his court.



At 22, and in only his second year in the league, Kennard is now the longest-tenured wing in Detroit, an instance that presented itself through a domino effect. Moments after the Pistons’ bus departed from Madison Square Garden last Tuesday, starting swingman Reggie Bullock learned that he had been traded to the Lakers for rookie Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2021 second-round pick. The next morning, fourth-year small forward Stanley Johnson was told that he would, too, be on the move in a deal for Thon Maker from the Bucks.



Those final moments on the bus ride to the airport and plane ride home with what were now accomplices-turned-foes wasn’t Kennard’s first taste of the harsh realities of the business. It was, though, a shock to the core, followed by...