Detroit Pistons: 2017-18 player grades for Luke Kennard

Detroit Pistons shooting guard Luke Kennard had a rookie season that teased his future potential. He had flashes of good but still needs some work.

The Detroit Pistons drafted Luke Kennard out of Duke 12th overall, one pick before first-year wunderkind Donovan Mitchell. Kennard was relegated to bench duty for the majority of the year as he only started nine games, despite the previous starter Avery Bradley being traded. In only 20 minutes per game, Kennard kept the sharp-shooting stroke that got him drafted so highly. He shot an impressive .443/.415/.855.

Kennard left school as an extremely successful player on the offensive end of the floor. Per Sports-Reference, he led the ACC in points produced, win shares and offensive rating, along with various other stats. He may never be a defensive stalwart, but he can be serviceable.

Moving forward, Kennard is likely going to become this team’s starting shooting guard. He has the ability to become a player like Kyle Korver if the team schemes to make him that way. He doesn’t have boundless athleticism, but he can run around screens all game long.

In 2017-18, he began to show what the team is in store for in the future as long as he maintains his current arc of progression. However, there were some flaws to his game that he will have to fix to become a legitimate 3-and-D threat.

In continuing our player grades series, we’ll be breaking down Kennard, discussing how his season went and what the team can expect from him moving forward. Without further delay, let’s get into what Kennard did well this past season.