 | | Luke Lighting It Up For The Lakers | | by Mike Trudell | | | On Feb. 5, the Lakers announced the acquisition of Luke Kennard from Atlanta, in exchange for Gabe Vincent and a future second round pick, as they looked to bolster their bench with the NBA’s best 3-point shooter. | | | Kennard, currently leading the league from distance at a robust 49.7%, has a chance to become just the 9th player in NBA history to shoot at least 50.0% from 3 for a full season, the first since Kyle Korver in 2009-10.
But here’s the thing … he’s more than just a shooter.
Kennard, who has become very much used to some of the best athletes in the world flying out to him the second he catches the basketball – such is the collective fear that he’ll get a clean shot off – knows exactly what to do.
“Luke Kennard just starts the blender for us,” said JJ Redick after a recent Lakers win at Golden State. “We frankly have not had a ton of blender starters. And obviously, Luka (Dončić) gets two on the ball, AR (Austin Reaves) gets two on the ball, LeBron will get two on the ball. But just to be able to create a closeout and then make the right read and right play from there … Luke (is) huge for our offense.”
In three straight wins for the Lakers against Sacramento, Golden State and New Orleans, Kennard averaged 12.0 points per game on 52.0% shooting, hitting 9 of 15 3’s (60.0%), while adding nine assists and a number of hockey assists by doing exactly what Redick said. The ‘blender’ simply refers to when the opposing defense is in rotation – moving around like a blender – caused by an appropriate overreaction to a particular offensive threat.
"Yeah, I love it,” said Kennard. “I think it kind of gives confidence in me, not just being a spot-up shooter. Which a lot of people think …. But just creating havoc offensively, just getting in the paint. I think I said when we get in the paint and we have multiple passes on possession, we're such a different team. And I think for me, I can kind of initiate some of that.
“If two guys are on, Luka, ‘Bron or Austin, and I get a swing pass, if I don't have a shot, I can get in the paint and try to make a play. I pride myself on that, trying to make the right play every single time, and I've been having a good time." |  | LeBron has enjoyed what Kennard’s brought to the Lakers.
“He shoots the ball so well, a lot of teams like to run him off the line, but his ability to get into the lane and make plays for others as well, he’s damn good at it,” summarized the 23-year veteran.
Redick likes to refer to what Kennard does as having a good “we score” mentality, where Kennard is more concerned that the team scores, as opposed to being the one that scores or makes the final pass.
“A play can be for him, but he's going to hunt out the best shot and play for the team,” Redick explained. “And all the guys benefit from that. Look, I called an ATO* for him in the second half (at Golden State). He scores on it. Could have shot it off the initial screen, created the blender, eventually got it back, hits a step-back three. *After time out play.
“We run it again, and this is where I just, you know he's a cerebral player. (Warriors wing) Pat Spencer tries to top lock him, and he screens his own into Jake's (LaRavia) guy, (Marcus) Smart hits Jake for a layup. You know, that's just connective offense right there. And that's just what Luke does.”
Kennard wants to make the right play whenever he gets the ball.
“I think when we are a team that (when we) get in the paint and we share the ball, we have multiple passes on a possession, I feel like we're a different team and we get a lot of great looks, and we can put up a lot of points,” he added. “For us guys coming off the bench, we need to be ready to play the right way, get the ball moving, and just, like I said, play with some pace." |  | Often times, the right play for Kennard is to just shoot the basketball. He did so in the first half against the Pelicans, who blew a defensive assignment to somehow leave him wide open. Swish.
“That’s a 23-foot layup for him,” exclaimed Stu Lantz on the Spectrum SportsNet broadcast.
When Kennard first got traded, he mentioned how excited he was when his agent told him about the destination, the 5th of his 8-year career.
“I’ve loved it,” he said of his time thus far in Purple and Gold. “It’s great when we win, but obviously, playing for the Lakers is the highest level you can be at. You wear this across your chest with some pride. I’ve taken pride in that since I’ve gotten here, and I’m excited to be here and excited to see where we can go.”
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