Detroit Pistons: Rookie Luke Kennard must stay patient and wait his turn

Detroit Pistons rookie shooting guard Luke Kennard isn’t seeing much playing time, but it’s not necessarily because he’s incapable of contributing.

Starring two years as a Duke Blue Devil, the sweet shooting and deft playmaking lefty Luke Kennard showed excellent growth from his freshmen to his sophomore campaign, making him an attractive prospect for the late lottery of the 2017 NBA Draft.

For teams in need of outside shooting and shot-creators, Kennard was billed as a safe yet intriguing option. While he’s gotten off to a slow start in a Detroit Pistons uniform, there are still high hopes for him.

No reason for concern

Through the Pistons’ first 11 games (8-3 record), Kennard has seen action in six of them, having played double-digit minutes five times. The results have been mixed, as he started off with a 5-for-8 night in a hard-fought loss against the Wizards early on, but has shot 5-for-17 since.

However, offense isn’t really anything much to be concerned about with the rookie, as it’s likely to mature with more playing time and reps.

Make no mistake, there are areas of Kennard’s game that have shown bright already and that could surely help the team right this instant. He displayed his heady passing chops multiple times last Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. This flashy maneuver helped Ish Smith get a clean lay-in just in the nick of time:

Again we see here that Kennard is thinking ahead and playing unselfishly. He’s got the right mindset, which isn’t necessarily something you can always teach a young player.

Wednesday in a win against the Pacers, Kennard was surprisingly the first guard off the bench for head coach Stan Van Gundy when starting shooting guard Avery Bradley picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter.

Kennard only played 12 minutes in the game, but wasted little time in looking for his own shot with this sweet move in the opening quarter.

 In the meantime

At least a few things will need to happen for Kennard to firmly break into the Pistons’ rotation. The first is that he’ll have to up his aggression and be more assertive. Stan Van Gundy put it this way:

"“I don’t think, honestly, Luke had been playing to his capabilities, in terms of being aggressive and things like that,” Van Gundy said."

Kennard is likely hesitant about when he should attack or when to look for his own shot and when he shouldn’t. That’s not abnormal for a rookie, no matter what place they were chosen in the draft.

I’m also sure that as a rookie there are defensive areas Van Gundy would like to see Kennard better execute on a more consistent basis. For rookies trying to break the rotation of a winning team (I remind you again that Detroit is 8-3), playing consistent defense the exact way the coach wants is an absolute must.

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The second thing that will need to happen for Kennard to see more playing time is to have normal backup shooting guard Langston Galloway fall off the earth on offense and to also forget how to play defense. Without a doubt, Galloway will at least come back down to earth on offense, as he’s currently shooting 58 percent from the field and 48 percent (14-for-29) from 3-point land.

However, unless Galloway goes into a shooting slump of epic proportions, he’s going to keep his spot in the rotation. On defense, Galloway has nothing to worry about as long as he maintains effort and follows Detroit’s schemes. Overall, he has a reputation of being an average to good defender throughout his career.

Quite simply, the Pistons currently don’t have a grave need at the shooting guard position.  Kennard will just have to stay ready, take G League assignments as they come, and realize that the better he plays in spot time, the more and more Stan Van Gundy will find ways to give him consistent playing time.

Next: 2017-18 Week 4 NBA Power Rankings

Having said that, I wouldn’t rule out seeing quality minutes from Kennard at some point later in the season with — it may seem wild — Pistons’ playoff seeding on the line. And I’m not talking about snatching those last two or three playoff spots, either. I’m talking possible top-four or five seed positioning.