Detroit Pistons: A look inside Luke Kennard’s resurgence

Not long ago, it looked like Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey had given up on Luke Kennard. As it turns out, both Casey and Kennard had other plans in mind.

It goes without saying that Luke Kennard would be happy to forget all about the first couple months of the Detroit Pistons‘ 2018-19 season. After an up-and-down rookie year, a shoulder injury in late October against the Cleveland Cavaliers sidelined him for five weeks. By the time he returned in December, his performance was unimpressive at best.

So much so, in fact, that he earned himself a DNP-CD on Dec. 26.

Merry Christmas, Luke.

The Pistons won that game against the Washington Wizards, and then promptly dropped seven of their next eight games. Kennard was fine, but nothing special over this stretch and head coach Dwane Casey certainly wasn’t given any significant reason to place much trust in him as a consequence.

Kennard was tentative, as was his hallmark over the first year-and-a-half of his career, frequently pump-faking his way out of open shots and then generally dribbling into whatever was the worst of the options available to him. As he’s no defensive stalwart, it seemed like Casey was running out of reasons to keep him in the rotation.

Things reached a boiling point against the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 10. It was the final game of their seven-losses-in-eight-games stretch, the last match in a tough West Coast road trip. Kennard was 1-for-8 from the floor, and got a quick hook in favor of rookie Bruce Brown Jr. after just a two-minute stint.

Kennard erupted on the sideline, and it appeared to be aimed at his own coaches.

Casey took it in stride, telling Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:

"“He was upset, I was upset the entire night,” Casey said. “He probably got a little frustrated. He missed a couple assignments. We had a few guys upset. Those are teachable moments, teachable situations we had. We’re not here to gift them baskets.“There were certain situations where we were critical. When you make multiple mistakes, multiple bad reads, you’re going to get taken out of the game, get talked to, get coached.“I like the fact that he did get upset because it shows he cares.”"

Whether it be a matter of getting fed up, Casey’s coaching finally clicking, the ongoing maturing process of a young player just a few months into his second season or some combination of all these factors, things clicked for Kennard after this dreadful experience in Sacramento.

As if he wanted to take the scouting report on him and turn it on its head, it seemed that almost overnight he shed the tentativeness that had plagued him throughout his young career. Instead of looking to defer so often that it was a net negative for his team, he defaulted to shooting first and asking questions later, like a deadly shooter should.

Mind you, his usage hasn’t really budged as his spot in the pecking order remains fairly firm, but the decisiveness of his decisions has. As a result, his production has skyrocketed.

Luke Kennard shot just 33.8 percent from 3-point range up to and including that game against the Sacramento Kings, but over his last 166 3-point attempts, he’s hitting 40.6 percent of them.

He’s fit well with both bench units and the starting lineup since his revival. When on the floor with Andre Drummond since Jan. 12, the Pistons have outscored their opponents by 10.8 points per 100 possessions. When adding Blake Griffin to the mix, they’re outscoring their opponents by 16.6 points per 100.

Conversely, when we filter for possessions with Griffin and Drummond off the floor and Kennard and Ish Smith on, essentially focusing on bench-only (or mostly) minutes, the Pistons are outscoring their opponents by 9.8 points per 100 possessions.

While it would be reductive to credit the Pistons’ own turnaround with that of Kennard, it’s evident that without his amelioration, they would not have been able to power their way back into the playoff mix, controlling their own fate as they do now.

From deservedly forgotten man to important cog in the Detroit Pistons’ wheel, Luke Kennard’s unique tale continues to develop before us.