HOUSTON – It’s the kind of thing you say while reflexively flinching, anticipating the ferocity of the backlash, but here goes anyway: Luke Kennard has some of the stuff that has elevated James Harden to MVP front-runner status.

No, nobody’s saying MVPs are in Kennard’s future or his career path will unfold as Harden’s has. Merely that the traits that have allowed Harden to join the pantheon of NBA elites are similar to the ones that give the Pistons confidence Kennard will enjoy a long and fruitful career.

Kennard’s already got the 3-point stuff down, shooting 40 percent for the season – a rare threshold for rookies adapting to the greater NBA distance and to the speed of the game and the length of closing defenders.

He can also handle the ball better than most wing players – not like Harden yet, though who can? – and shows signs of having the feel for getting defenders off balance and stepping through for open jumpers or runners that makes Harden such a unique and dynamic scorer. Kennard got his chances to guard Harden in Thursday’s grinding overtime loss at Houston, mostly on switches, and held his own – and tried to pick up a few tricks of the trade.

“The way he uses his body, the way how he just goes about how he does stuff,” Kennard said of Harden’s unique use of pace and herky-jerky movement to catch defenders leaning. “Little things. I love to watch different guys and see if I can pick up anything. I’m trying to learn, trying to get better and he’s definitely one of the guys.”

Kennard’s best weapon as a rookie has been his 3-point shot, but against Houston he scored 14 points and hit 6 of 11 shots while missing all five shots outside the arc but making all five inside of it. Before the game, Stan Van Gundy said the area Kennard needed to bolster was scoring in the paint.

“His ability to finish around the basket is probably the only area where he’s really got to get better,” he said. “He’s not a bad athlete, but he’s not a high flyer. He’s not going to come in and dunk over the top of you. He is pretty creative down there, but he’s still got to get better finishing around the basket. As time goes on in his career, you’ll see him get better and better at that.”

Some of his best finishes of the season came at Houston.

“He made a couple of really nice drives and drew the foul on one,” Van Gundy said. “I’m happy with the way he played. That’s why we kept him out there.”

Just as most rookies, Kennard the exception, struggle with the transition to the NBA 3-point line, so must they adapt to NBA length and quickness hurrying their attempts in the paint.

“A hundred percent,” Kennard agreed. “Reps and just playing. Any chance I have to play against NBA level – whether that’s preseason or if some of our guys get together – just playing and focusing on that part of my game. That’s one of the things I want to get better at, so I’ve got to work at that. That’s definitely one of the things I have taken away from the season.”

Kennard’s rookie season has had the typical peaks and valleys, currently in ascendancy. He averaged 12 points over the six-game road trip – in double figures for every game except for a two-point clunker at Denver – and shot nearly 50 percent (29 of 59) while making half of his triples before Thursday’s doughnut. He also showed playmaking skills, registering at least two assists in five of the six games, and a nose for rebounding, grabbing three or more in four of the six games.

A common theme dating to training camp is Van Gundy urging him to be more aggressive. That sounds easy, but there’s a fine line between aggression and recklessness and rookies sometimes wander aimlessly in search of it. It’s hard to know when to press your boundaries when you’re not even sure where they are.

“You’ve got to stay in control. You’ve got to stay poised,” Kennard said. “I think that’s part of my game, being a poised player. But at the same time, I’m a playmaker and that’s what they want me to be. I’ve been conservative. I feel like I’ve held back at some points in the season, but here recently I’m trying to get out of that and just be a playmaker and a poised player. That’s another thing that is going to be one of my focuses when I can work on it.”

With Reggie Bullock seizing his opportunity and locking up one wing spot and the Pistons set at point guard and the two frontcourt spots with Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, a step forward from Kennard and Stanley Johnson would go a long way to solidifying their rotation next season.

Griffin sees big things ahead for Kennard, whose shooting and versatility should play well off of Griffin’s playmaking.

“He was great,” Griffin said of Kennard’s outing at Houston. “He’s been great this stretch. Not only scoring the ball but running offense with poise when he has it, playing good defense, being in passing lanes, passing the ball well. He’s done everything. He’s very capable of doing that and it’s been huge for us.”