In the 2020 NBA Draft, the LA Clippers agreed to a three-team trade in which they received Luke Kennard from the Detroit Pistons and sent Landry Shamet to the Brooklyn Nets. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Clippers and Kennard signed a four-year, $64 million extension on Monday.
Kennard had become a sort of forgotten man over the last few years due to various reasons. He was playing for a bad Pistons team and often getting hurt. He has managed merely 88 games in the last two seasons combined, with ongoing knee issues as the main culprit. The Clippers must be confident that those issues are past him since they were handing him $64 million before he had played a meaningful game for them.
Last season, 24-year-old Kennard appeared in only 28 games for the Detroit Pistons. He averaged a career-high 15.8 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds. Kennard ranked second on the Pistons last season in free throw percentage (.893), third in points and three-pointer percentage (.399) and fourth in assists.
Standing at 6-foot-5, the guard was selected by the Pistons as the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and holds career averages of 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in a total of 163 career games.
This might end up being a good bit of business for Clippers. When he can get on the court, Kennard can play. He will fit perfectly alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. With a career 40.2 percent 3-point short, Kennard is a real spot-up threat, but he is more than capable of playing with a ball in his hands too. He is another playmaker that the Clippers needed – someone who can get his own shot, but also create it for others.
