LAKERS OFFSEASON NO LEBRON JAMES BIG BOARD: #15 LUKE KENNARD

WRITTEN + EDITED BY JORDYN BONTRAGER

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving made a lion’s share of the noise when it came to perimeter production for the infamous ‘24 Dallas Mavericks. Their combined usage was astronomical, which was justified considering we are discussing two Hall of Fame playmakers. But it goes without saying that they needed a bit of ancillary pop on the perimeter to alleviate some attention from opposing defenses.

Thankfully for them, they had the microwave’s finest Tim Hardaway Jr out there heat checking every evening. Aside from the journeyman’s quick (career 6.3 triple tries/game) and effective (career 36.6% 3FG) exterior clip, THJ has just never really provided any other sort of noteworthy contributions. He hardly turns the ball over which is great, but he also only sets the table for teammates on very rare occasions. Slotted alongside guys of Irving + Doncic’s nature, the Hardaway’s nightly assignment was simple: empty the clip. In hindsight, he crushed that role throughout the 2024 regular season (postseason is a topic for another discussion).

Luke Kennard was a rich man’s Tim Hardaway Jr. for the Lakers this year after coming over from Atlanta midseason. Kennard not only avoided the seemingly unavoidable shooting woes which always seem to accompany this squad’s newly secured shooting specialists, bro wound up leading the league in 3FG% (again) at 47.8%. Through the end of March, Kennard was perfectly executing exactly what Kennard was acquired to do: space the floor. Then everything changed for everyone when both Luka and AR sustained extended injuries right out of the gates to start April. But nobody’s role was stretched more than Kennard’s, who basically inherited pseudo secondary playmaking duties from that point until Reaves eventually returned R1:G5 versus Houston. Mind you, he has essentially been relegated exclusively to spot up shooting duties across his quartet of former pit stops (Detroit, LA [Clippers], Memphis, Atlanta) since entering the league in 2017.

Not sure if the universe’s collective scouting report on this dude was just dumb, but when Kennard’s name was called in that moment it seemed like he had been waiting a lifetime for that makeshift call-up to the majors. As soon as that spotlight came calling, the slippery southpaw started cooking like you would have never even imagined.

In the team’s first outing immediately ensuing the aforementioned injury misfortunes, Kennard popped off out of nowhere to the tune of his first career triple-double (15 bucket tallies x 16 boards (!) x 11 dimes). His standard sky-high shooting numbers cratered as his responsibilities compounded (only shot 29.4% from deep in the team’s closing six April contests), but the boy was suddenly out there making things happen everywhere in those same six April contests: 28.2 MPG | 11.3 PPG | 4.2 RPG | 5.8 APG vs 1.2 TOPG | 1.5 SPG. He hit the ground running with that confidence in the opening playoff round against the Rockets, looking like a bonafide go-to guy from the start of Game 1 through the conclusion of Game 2 in that series: 40 MPG | 25 PPG | 5 RPG | 2.5 APG vs 2.5 TOPG | 1.5 SPG | 17/26 FG | 8/11 3FG | 8/10 FT. The lefty tapered off from that point on in terms of the wildly unforeseen table setting extravaganza he had himself, but did return to his renowned outside marksman form (hit 8/14 long balls in the next “series” against OKC).

All things considered, getting Kennard while simultaneously getting out of Gabe Vincent was nothing but net on Pelinka’s part. JJ Redick deserves fields of flowers for maximizing a subtle player with a similar shooting feel and sense to the one which he exhibited once upon a time during his days as a net shredder. Luka-Austin-LeBron get a pat on the back for making Kennard’s on-court integration so simple, while LeBron in specific deserves recognition for rallying behind Lukey K to instill his supreme late season confidence.

At the end of the day, every single star aligned when it comes to this acquisition. It should go without saying when we say……….

……..run it back.