With one dribble, Luke Kennard’s basketball brain entered system overload. A routine motion was replaced by an overt display of indecision.



It was early in the Detroit Pistons’ second preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs when the 22-year-old sharpshooter received the ball coming off a dribble hand-off above the 3-point line, beat his man with one dribble and, seemingly, was ready for a procedural pull-up jumper. He went through the steps, and for a split second looked as if he was going to let it fly. Then he didn’t, instead deferring to a teammate on the perimeter as he attempted to stay aligned with programming.



There was a 50 percent chance Kennard would have hit the routine 18-footer. Last year, his rookie season, the former No. 12 pick proved to be even more deadly from the mid-range area than he was from 3.



But under a new head coach, one whose shot spectrum centers around efficient, high-volume 3s and shots at the rim, those...