Comments on: 213 Hoops 2022 Season Player Grade Roundtable: Luke Kennard

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 22:13:02 +0000

Uve got to be kidding. The entire Lake org, players, bloggers, fans (except John Ireland) rues the day the team drank the RW coolaid. They wish it never happened. You really want a guy who can’t shoot or defend on the Clips? Are you a secret sabateur?

By: osamu6238

osamu6238 — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 23:40:06 +0000

If I were a betting man, I would put money on the Lakers being able to trade Westbrook. I just really feel like the Lakers are going to feel a ton of pressure to trade Westbrook by any means necessary and put the 2027 and/or 2029 1st round picks on the table, which are the real assets that gets him moved. It’s going to be like Hayward and Rozier for Westbrook and the 2027 1st round pick and maybe some other 2nd round picks, or something like Fournier, Kemba, Burks, and Noel for Westbrook and the 2027 pick.

I do think even if traded, it’s unlikely a team buys him out only because his expiring contract could be more useful at the deadline. More likely he’s just asked to stay home like John Wall this season. But if he was willing to give some money back, a buyout is a possibility. I’m sure if he had some assurances that like the Clippers would sign him and he could stay in LA, or if he knew he could latch onto another contender, that’s probably worth a few $$ for him to give back in a buyout. I just don’t see another contender that would want Westbrook the way his time with the Lakers went.

By: Thretch

Thretch — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 22:49:34 +0000

Thought I read that Wall had disagreements with Houston about his role there. I know the situation in LA would be different, but the “attitude” is still a turn off for me. His role here s/b put pressure on the defense, but still defer to the myriad of effective offensive players. Would he be OK with that?

By: Thretch

Thretch — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 22:46:20 +0000

B+
Dhpat said “more contested 3’s please”. I agree.

I know he increased his 3PA per possession. But he passed up many opportunities… and then passed it to another player who took a contested 3. If that’s the end result of a possession, it might as well be Luke that takes it.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 20:55:57 +0000

Normally I’d agree w/ you, but I don’t think Westbrook agrees to a buyout anywhere (I think he’s still too delusional about his own level of play), and so I doubt any team is willing to trade for him w/o that buyout assurance beforehand. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part, but I predict another season of Westbrook on the Lakers.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 08:27:26 +0000

Luke is good and valuable to our team.
Put him in JJ’s role in Lob City team and I think he will have similar usage rate and numbers. He will be the only consistent 3pt threat in the line up with CP/sub-par SF/Blake/DJ.
But we have so many shooters on the team right now.
So pair him with Reggie/PG/Kawhi/Morris/Batum or even Norm/T-Mann/Coffey/RoCo and you don’t have too many shots left for him.
This guy prove so many times that he is so clutch and he can heat up at any moment.
A- for me and yes he needs to shoot more. 🙂

By: dhpat

dhpat — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 03:20:12 +0000

RW isn’t going to change for anyone. He is definitely his own man. But, then again, the Clippers do have this knack of rehabilitating so called “washed up” players and getting them to be really productive (i.e., Reggie, Nic and RoCo).
OT, sadly, my daughter said at dinner: “it would be really nice to watch a Clippers game tonight.”

By: osamu6238

osamu6238 — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 02:44:18 +0000

Yea I was looking at their stats, and does seem like it really is more about taking (and making) the 2’s than the 3’s that separates them. And a few extra free throws too. If anything Luke compares statistically more closely to Joe Harris, but I haven’t watches enough Nets basketball to get a good idea of how their games really compare.

Still think Luke is a starter on like at least 50% of the teams in the league, so mostly just an unfortunate logjam in front of him. I’d almost want to see how the Clips would look with Luke starting with PG at SF and Kawhi at PF, and Norm as the prototypical 6th man. Feels like Luke would get a ton of open shots playing off of PG and Kawhi.

By: osamu6238

osamu6238 — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 02:37:33 +0000

Westbrook is not declining that option. If anything Lakers are going to trade him for some other bad contracts and he gets bought out (which I think is a decent possibility). I’m sure if Westbrook works on a buyout and wants to stay in LA, the Clippers would gladly give him a firm “Hell No”.

By: osamu6238

osamu6238 — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 02:33:35 +0000

I do kind of agree that JJ was the offensive engine for the Clips during the regular season, but too often we saw his shot volume and effectiveness completely tank in the playoffs when defenses were really able scout and focus on stopping him. This is why I’m kind of glad the Clips aren’t quite as reliant on Luke as they were with JJ. Still JJ was super effective for the Clippers in the regular season so it would be nice to run a few more plays for Luke.