AUBURN HILLS – Rare is the player who convinces any coach of future NBA stardom
based on Summer League performance, but every now and then the opposite proves
true: players who give a coach scant reason to believe they have a path to any
meaningful NBA role.
Luke Kennard passed that last test, at least, with flying colors.
Everything Stan Van Gundy loved about Kennard based on scouting his two years at
Duke were put into evidence over the 21-year-old’s 10 days in Orlando. The thing
Van Gundy most feared would impede Kennard’s ability to leave a mark on the NBA
– defense – was largely put to bed.
That’s about as much as the Pistons could have hoped to get out of Kennard’s
time at Summer League.
“Pretty much what we thought offensively, maybe even did a better job passing
the ball than I thought,” Van Gundy said. “He’s able to make plays off the
dribble , that nice change of pace, and things I hadn’t seen a lot of. He really
has a great feel for the game and how to play in addition to clearly his ability
to shoot the ball.”
It speaks loudly to Kennard’s alpha scoring tendencies that in two end-game
situations where the Pistons needed three points to tie with less than five
seconds to play, in both cases Kennard delivered. The first time, he drew a foul
and made all three free throws – a situation that tests the mettle of even the
best foul shooters – and the second he drained the tying triple as the opposing
bench loudly alerted its defenders to prevent him from getting off a shot.
“We’ve seen that a lot. He’s got great mental toughness,” Van Gundy said. “The
thing I have great confidence in is that as he runs into challenges in the
league – and everybody does and he’ll be no exception – I just think he’s a
smart guy who’s adaptable. I think he’ll figure out a way to combat it. I’ve got
great confidence in his ability to do that.”
Lottery picks go into Summer League in almost a no-win situation, carrying
weighty expectations from the fan base and a target on their backs from
opponents – in many cases, veterans of international basketball significantly
more experienced and older. Couple that with sitll feeling the exhaustion from
the grind of draft workouts and the emotional toll of draft night and its
aftermath. Kennard arrived in Orlando a mere four days after the draft, three
days after his introductory press conference with the Pistons.
He wound up as the team’s steadiest player, averaging 17.2 points to Henry
Ellenson’s 17.4 and finishing with a flourish, scoring 24 and hitting all three
of his 3-point attempts in the finale as the Pistons lost in overtime to Dallas
of the Orlando championship game. Kennard made 11 of 23 3-point shots over five
games.
So Van Gundy was heartened to see Kennard’s ability to rise to the moment
translate from Duke to a higher level against longer, quicker athletes. And he
was encouraged to see Kennard’s offensive flair went beyond scoring. But maybe
the biggest takeaway for him was the way Kennard held his own at the defensive
end.
“The thing I didn’t know that he showed me is he has the ability to move his
feet defensively. Now, he’s still got a long way to go in terms of handling some
of the other things, rotations and things like that. But he certainly showed
that he can get down in a stance and move his feet. I did not have a good feel
for that going into the draft, so that was a positive.”
As with Ellenson, Van Gundy has enough depth and confidence in other players at
Kennard’s wing positions to cobble together a rotation without him. But he left
Orlando confident that the two youngest players on the Pistons roster would be
ready to help them win games if called upon.
Player: Luke Kennard
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