Luke Kennard is the newest Los Angeles Laker as they brought him at the trade deadline in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks for Gabe Vincent and a future second-round pick. The deadline always involves a lot of player movement, but the Lakers opted to only bring in Kennard as they prioritize cap space this summer.
While the Lakers didn’t address all of their needs, they addressed one major one with the addition of Kennard and that is outside shooting.
Bringing in a 49.7% 3-point shooter is not nothing to scoff at, granted with only 3.2 attempts per game so far this season.
But head coach JJ Redick and Kennard share a Duke connection and are both labeled as upper echelon shooters, so the newest Laker shared his excitement the play for someone he already has a relationship with, he discussed in an interview with ESPN Los Angeles:
“I’ve known him for a while, obviously in passing, I’ve seen him at events, just randomly throughout the last 10, 11, 12 years. Obviously I played against him, we obviously went to Duke, played the same position. I heard so many stories, watches tons of his film because when I was in college, that is who I watched. It was him and a couple other guys, just trying to see what they did. But yeah, seeing JJ in passing and getting to know him a little bit, I’m excited for the opportunity to play for him.”
Redick has already spoken about his desire of wanting to get Kennard’s 3-point attempts up and the nine-year guard is looking forward to accommodating to his new coach:
“Yeah, there can be times where you can be a little bit more aggressive, you can take harder, more contested shots. I think that’s something they want me to do and I’m looking forward to that and excited to do that. But yeah, sometimes it’s tough. Just depending on the situation you’re in, what the system is like, just all the kind of factors that play into it. But I know here, they got great passers, great playmakers, high IQ players and I’m excited to get some of the most wide open looks I’ve ever had.”
Dalton Knecht was supposed to fill the role as a movement shooter but has unfortunately not lived up to expectations. Hopefully, Kennard will help address that and the Lakers offense can open up more around Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
JJ Redick believes Luke Kennard is one of best shooters in NBA
Redick seems enthusiastic about the Lakers new acquisition as he tagged Kennard as one of the best shooters in the NBA.
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