whitehops wrote:doordoor123 wrote:I don't get the fascination of Luke Kennard as a possible top 20 pick. Yes, he's a good shooter and great shooting out of the pick and roll, but he's really slow. He also won't have the ball in his hands nearly as much. And when defenders start to respect his shot, he'll have a really hard time. I see him more as a late first for someone that needs a back up shooter. I don't think he'll ever be a starter unless he somehow gets more athletic. It's amazing that no one went after him on the defensive end in college and it's probably because Duke is so loaded with good players.
I would easily take someone like Jawun Evans and Frank Jackson over him.
kennard is the most natural scorer in the draft. he is a great shooter and has a ton of different ways of getting his shot off, both on-ball and off-ball. he has that natural feel for the game which helps him at every step. he'd be the most likely candidate in the draft class to have a 50/40/90 season in the nba.
his athleticism is completely overblown in relation to his offense, it'll affect his defense a lot more. steve nash was a similar type of athlete and was a prolific offensive player. not saying kennard will be as good as nash but he has that same level of natural skill/feel that nash did.
think of it this way: despite his athletic disadvantage, he was a great scorer in high school (2nd most points in ohio history) and was a great scorer in college. he's learned to rise above his limitations and produce which makes me feel a lot better than these prospects who have gotten by on athleticism until now and are in for a rude awakening in the nba.
Sounds a lot like Doug McDermott. I don't see Kennard's game translating well at the next level.