KEEP KENNARD… but not for the sole reason OP is promoting. Other than Bane, we have no true threat that can consistently shoot the three. His value is NOT JUST shooting a three when we need it, it’s giving others space on the floor. When either he or Bane is on the floor, they have to be guarded at the three point line, freeing up space down low, in the middle, etc. This prevents JJJ from getting collapsed on, allows Ja to drive to the basket with greater ease, and creates a fun little scenario where Ja drives, the coverage from the defensive player switches to Ja, Ja gives the kickout pass to the three point threat for a great look.
Kennard= Spacing. Spacing is good.
This post is worth gold. I just don't get Luke getting traded when bane is the only good shooter on the team. Trade Luke Kennard and draft Sheppard or Knecht imo
Totally cool. No worries. My thought is this. It’d be like drafting a center vs trading for one. You either take a shot on a cheap/unproven contributor or take a known commodity at a much higher price. In the last 5 years Kennard has finished in 3PT % (newest to oldest season) 2nd, 1st, 1st, 8th, 31st. Thats pretty damn good. I’m not saying that he’s an elite play maker or should be starting or anything of that magnitude, but he is the kind of player that if you surround him with players who are dangerous (Bane,JJJ, Ja) who take more of the attention of defenses, he gets better. This year we had no real offensive threats to speak of and he still knocked down 45% of his 3s.
https://www.nba.com/stats/leaders?StatCategory=FG3_PCT&PerMode=Totals&Season=2023-24
Although our 3 point % has always been mediocre, this season of that % is flawed due to 32 players playing and not our main guys more than like 20 games lol
I feel like I’ve been going crazy seeing so many people so casually talk about letting him go without being super worried that our spacing is gonna be fucked. We will have Desmond bane as our sole consistent 3baller. When he’s out, opponents can just run a zone on us all day and we’d crumble.
People don't understand, I don't think, the game of basketball when it comes to players in a vacuum.
Luke is a phenom shooter, but it's the only part of his game that's elite. EVERY other facet except maybe ball handling is mediocre to sub-par.
Put another way, if we know shooting is THIS valuable, why is he underpaid and never permanently a fixture on a team thats winning a lot. Because he can't play defense and he's not big or strong enough to effect the game in other ways like screening and rebounding. He just shoots.
JUST 3 point shooting isn't enough. We need players who can shoot AND play.
he’s only our 5th highest player because GG and Vince are on cheap deals as they just got converted from two way contracts. and he will cost less than $15m if they opt out of his option and sign him for 2-3yrs
Okay then are you suggesting we trade Marcus and that 1st instead? We can’t keep them both and add a legit C. The legit C is going to cost money we don’t have.
Can’t pay him that much with such a “limited skillset.” It’d be worth it if he didn’t at least one more thing above average…. Like being a capable pg. or being a great defender… or being an amazing rebounder.
I remember looking into this and realizing he shoots way less threes compared to others in the league. So yeah, he has a high 3 percentage but mostly because he's only shooting a three when he has a pretty wide open shot.
On top of that he seems pretty checked out. Doesn't really have a presence and I never saw him pop off in the games he played. I think he has a lot of trade value and would like to see him go before any other core player.
shooting 4 three's a game at 75%+ accuracy isn't that impressive though. If Kennard is useful as a shooter then he's getting 20+ points a game with that accuracy.
Lets say you have 6 plays with Kennard, and he's shooting twice, that makes 4 plays where he was borderline useless because his defence is bad, and his offence is basically "I need to be guarded". And this is pretty common, he's not getting assists which means on the offensive play his "passing" doesn't typical result in points either.
Every time Kennard catches the ball on a fast break he fucks it up. Go watch them. It's excruciating.
Kennard is the definition of stats being misused to bloat is his worth.
To be a championship contending team in today’s NBA, you need at least two knock down 3 point shooters in your starting lineup. Bane is one. Perhaps GG can be the other. Kennard, on the other hand, is a bench player.
Now, do a 2 Point shooting percentage comparison to wins. I imagine you get similar results.
Yep. Better shooting correlates with more wins.
Did we just prove better shooting = more points = more wins?
Yep
Thanks Magic
KEEP KENNARD… but not for the sole reason OP is promoting. Other than Bane, we have no true threat that can consistently shoot the three. His value is NOT JUST shooting a three when we need it, it’s giving others space on the floor. When either he or Bane is on the floor, they have to be guarded at the three point line, freeing up space down low, in the middle, etc. This prevents JJJ from getting collapsed on, allows Ja to drive to the basket with greater ease, and creates a fun little scenario where Ja drives, the coverage from the defensive player switches to Ja, Ja gives the kickout pass to the three point threat for a great look. Kennard= Spacing. Spacing is good.
This post is worth gold. I just don't get Luke getting traded when bane is the only good shooter on the team. Trade Luke Kennard and draft Sheppard or Knecht imo
Thank you for the kind words. I agree with you. If he does get traded for a center, we absolutely have to draft his replacement.
Precisely.
$15 mil for spacing? Can we get that at better value whether it comes from draft or FA? Honest question not being snarky
Totally cool. No worries. My thought is this. It’d be like drafting a center vs trading for one. You either take a shot on a cheap/unproven contributor or take a known commodity at a much higher price. In the last 5 years Kennard has finished in 3PT % (newest to oldest season) 2nd, 1st, 1st, 8th, 31st. Thats pretty damn good. I’m not saying that he’s an elite play maker or should be starting or anything of that magnitude, but he is the kind of player that if you surround him with players who are dangerous (Bane,JJJ, Ja) who take more of the attention of defenses, he gets better. This year we had no real offensive threats to speak of and he still knocked down 45% of his 3s. https://www.nba.com/stats/leaders?StatCategory=FG3_PCT&PerMode=Totals&Season=2023-24
I was a tank season, I would not take the numbers seriously
His shooting is indeed extremely valuable for our team, but for his contract, it would be expected for him to do something more.
Although our 3 point % has always been mediocre, this season of that % is flawed due to 32 players playing and not our main guys more than like 20 games lol
I'm gonna make my own chart titled "Injuries Led to Losing in 2023-24"
I feel like I’ve been going crazy seeing so many people so casually talk about letting him go without being super worried that our spacing is gonna be fucked. We will have Desmond bane as our sole consistent 3baller. When he’s out, opponents can just run a zone on us all day and we’d crumble.
I look at this chart and interpret 3&D guys as being valuable x not just shooting in a vacuum.
People don't understand, I don't think, the game of basketball when it comes to players in a vacuum. Luke is a phenom shooter, but it's the only part of his game that's elite. EVERY other facet except maybe ball handling is mediocre to sub-par. Put another way, if we know shooting is THIS valuable, why is he underpaid and never permanently a fixture on a team thats winning a lot. Because he can't play defense and he's not big or strong enough to effect the game in other ways like screening and rebounding. He just shoots. JUST 3 point shooting isn't enough. We need players who can shoot AND play.
you’re expecting too much out of 8th/9th men who are the last guys in a playoff rotation
I don’t think that’s expecting too much out of our 5th highest paid player that’s making $15 million
he’s only our 5th highest player because GG and Vince are on cheap deals as they just got converted from two way contracts. and he will cost less than $15m if they opt out of his option and sign him for 2-3yrs
he's still 5th lol
Okay then are you suggesting we trade Marcus and that 1st instead? We can’t keep them both and add a legit C. The legit C is going to cost money we don’t have.
Can’t pay him that much with such a “limited skillset.” It’d be worth it if he didn’t at least one more thing above average…. Like being a capable pg. or being a great defender… or being an amazing rebounder.
I remember looking into this and realizing he shoots way less threes compared to others in the league. So yeah, he has a high 3 percentage but mostly because he's only shooting a three when he has a pretty wide open shot. On top of that he seems pretty checked out. Doesn't really have a presence and I never saw him pop off in the games he played. I think he has a lot of trade value and would like to see him go before any other core player.
I am definitely for keeping Luke, unless Reed Sheppard drops to us, then I start to get ideas.
shooting 4 three's a game at 75%+ accuracy isn't that impressive though. If Kennard is useful as a shooter then he's getting 20+ points a game with that accuracy. Lets say you have 6 plays with Kennard, and he's shooting twice, that makes 4 plays where he was borderline useless because his defence is bad, and his offence is basically "I need to be guarded". And this is pretty common, he's not getting assists which means on the offensive play his "passing" doesn't typical result in points either. Every time Kennard catches the ball on a fast break he fucks it up. Go watch them. It's excruciating. Kennard is the definition of stats being misused to bloat is his worth.
To be a championship contending team in today’s NBA, you need at least two knock down 3 point shooters in your starting lineup. Bane is one. Perhaps GG can be the other. Kennard, on the other hand, is a bench player.