Our Pistons preview continues today with second-year shooting guard Luke Kennard.





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About Last Year:

Despite being overshadowed by Donovan Mitchell, (who will not be mentioned again in this piece), Luke Kennard had a very strong rookie season. For all the clamoring about Kennard not getting played enough and SVG being too stubborn, Kennard played 20 minutes per game in 73 games, which is not too shabby for a rookie on a team attempting to win games.

From the get-go his shooting was elite and he finished the season shooting 41.5% from deep. The volume wasn't as high as you would like with 4.8 attempts per 36 minutes, (for comparison, Reggie Bullock shot 5.8 per 36 last year) but it's still good. Per Synergy Sports, he ranked in the 96th percentile as a spot up shooter, a truly elite mark, especially for a rookie. He also showed some of the ball-handling and playmaking chops he showed in college. He struggled, and likely will continue to struggle, to finish in the lane and at the hoop, but he's got a good feel and touch on passes and is crafty in getting space for jumpers inside the arc. Also, Kennard is one of the few who is so good as a shooter that you don't mind him shooting long-twos so much.

The best news from Luke's rookie campaign was that he wasn't actually a total dunce on defense. Not to over-state his abilities, he will likely always be a liability against high-level ball-handlers, but he made smart and crisp rotations and has good instincts for jumping into passing lanes for steals. His good head for the game also continued to his rebounding, where he was above average for his position.

All in all, Kennard probably could've had a chance to do more in his rookie year, but it was still a very solid season for Kennard and one that he can and should be able to build on towards bigger and better things.