No one should dispute the fact that Luke Kennard was a slam dunk pick-up at the NBA trade deadline for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the strong initial impression left on the franchise, Rob Pelinka's decision on whether Kennard stays with the Lakers long-term is not that simple.
Part of the reason Los Angeles felt more than comfortable gambling on the addition of bringing in the veteran sharpshooter was undoubtedly his contract situation. The Lakers avoided adding any long-term money to their books by swapping out Gabe Vincent's expiring deal for Kennard's one-year contract. All it cost them was the mere price of a second-round pick.
The Lakers got an upgrade in the immediate future and they got to retain their financial flexibility for a pivotal offseason that focuses around building a true contender for Luka Doncic. That is where the plans for Kennard get complicated.
There is plenty of value to be found in the floor spacing provided by the 29-year-old. There are also reasonable concerns that come with Kennard's lackluster defensive ability. The strengths and cons must be adequately weighed by the Lakers front office in the coming weeks.
Luke Kennard's risks might outweigh his rewards in Los Angeles
This will not be the first time of Kennard's pros and cons being stacked up, and it certainly will not be the last. On top of the coverage which has been done here, the rest of Laker land is also discussing the subject. Jovan Buha and Iztok Franko were just debating it on a recent episode of Buha's Block.
Buha brought up the strong offensive rating between Doncic and Kennard was quickly offset by the poor defensive rating. The limitations with having the two operating together are clear.
To add quantifiable numbers to what Buha was saying, Doncic and Kennard posted an offensive rating of 122.6 on the attack in their 22 regular season games together. That is tremendous until weighing it against the 118.3 defensive rating on the other end.
Shooting is an element that will never be undesirable around Doncic. Kennard's league-leading 47.8 percent from downtown is thus valued even more strongly in an offense with Luka.
However, that ability to space the floor is best served to Doncic with a reliable deliverance of being able to generate stops on the other side of the court. Kennard falls comfortably short in that department.
If the Lakers can find guys in free agency who do both for the money they were going to offer Kennard, it should not surprise anyone for them to opt for the more balanced player. That offers the highest upside to the ceiling of a championship team around Doncic.
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