Miami Heat work out 3 guard prospects ahead of 2017 NBA Draft

4 of 4

Brad-Penner-USA-TODAY-Sports /

Luke Kennard, PG/SG, Duke

Prospect breakdown:

Age: 21
Height/Wingpsan/Weight: 6’6″, 6’5.25″, 202 pounds
Sophomore year averages:
- 19.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.6 TOV, 49.0 FG%, 43.8 3P%, 85.6 FT%, 35.5 MPG
Draft Express Mock Position: 1st round, 11th overall pick

Strengths:

Elite scorer in every sense of the word. Took a ton of jump shots, yet maintained an absurd 63.0 true shooting percentage. Crafty ball-handler, can get to his spots and score at all three levels. Not great against length, but still shot 61.8 percent at the rim, per Hoop Math. (For reference’s sake, his teammate and future top-five 2017 NBA Draft pick Jayson Tatum shot 62.0 percent from the same area, and he’s half a foot longer.) Underrated passer, can play role of distributing combo guard soundly. According to ESPN‘s Chad Ford, Kennard recorded a 38.5-inch vertical at a recent workout, hence his meteoric rise up draft boards.

Weaknesses:

T-Rex-like wingspan could kill his scoring near the rim. In postseason play, averaged 16.5 points on 40.5 percent shooting, including an 11-point, two-rebound outing in Duke’s season-ending loss against South Carolina in the Round of 32. In that contest, Kennard shot 1-for-6 and fouled out in fewer than 30 minutes. Simply a slump or did the extremely athletic Gamecocks simply overwhelm him? Not much of a defender…which is putting it kindly.

Final verdict:

Kennard checks off two major boxes for potential Heat players: He’s left-handed and he went to Duke. We may as well stop overthinking it, he’s probably going to be the guy at No. 14 based on those two factors alone. In all seriousness, he’s an elite scorer, who was the most efficient high-volume shooter in college basketball in 2017. Miami, however, already has a plethora of combo guards on their roster. Barring a draft-night trade, do I see them selecting another one come June 22? Not really, but stranger things have happened.