Detroit Pistons: 3 breakout candidates in 2018-19

2. Luke Kennard

Kennard had an outstanding rookie season. However, he has the ability to be so much more this year. Kennard’s shooting was expectedly good. He has the ability to be great. The 50-40-90 club is a very real possibility for him every year. Casey’s offense was great for 3-point shooters, as evidenced by the eight players that shot at least 36 percent last season. Kennard’s 41.5 percent mark could grow even higher next season.

Kennard will need to work on his conditioning as he’ll be running all game long. He will play a similar offensive role to Klay Thompson with the Golden State Warriors, with a few more ball-handling duties. He has the ability to handle the ball if necessary, but his main work will be as a shooter. He will undoubtedly play more minutes, which will get him more shots and touches. The main mission for him will be to maintain or increase his efficiency in the larger role.

Defense is where Kennard will need to improve to truly breakout. Although he will never be tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best wing, he needs to be better than he was. Per ESPN‘s real plus/minus system, he was the 59th graded shooting guard. He will struggle against larger wings with only a 6’5″ wingspan.

However, against point guards, he could match up well. With Jackson’s 7’0″ wingspan, the team could experiment with the two of them flipping on defense. The majority of NBA teams have started using the switch-happy system. Kennard will have to work more to become an asset than a liability. With his hustle and high basketball IQ, he can quickly fix that weak spot of his game.