Luke Kennard got a DNP-CD today: Worst move in the summer?

[pcbothwel]

The Kennard and Morris contracts were bad, but in a soft cap environment you have to make the sacrifice to get good complimentary players and filler for future trades.
Similar to LAL with Kuz. You are paying for the player, but also the future flexibility to make trades.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Kennard is doing exactly what could have been expected of him.

Batum took all of Kennard's minutes.

Why he was worth a mid first rounder, I don't know.

[uberhikari]

The Clippers are pretenders. They have Kawhi, PG, Ibaka, Zubac, Beverley, Morris, Batum...all these guys are super-elite to marginally above average defenders. They're #4 in Ortg but average in Drtg (15th). A team with all those great defenders should never be average on defense. A huge component of their defensive woes is their second unit that can't guard a traffic cone. And their worst defenders are Lou Will, Reggie Jackson, and Kennard. Those guys are so bad they're dragging the Clippers Drtg down. Any lineup combination with at least 2 of those 3 players dies on defense. In the PS they will get hunted to oblivion. Giving Kennard $16m seemed like a good idea at the time but now? Not so much.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

The Clippers are pretenders. They have Kawhi, PG, Ibaka, Zubac, Beverley, Morris, Batum...all these guys are super-elite to marginally above average defenders. They're #4 in Ortg but average in Drtg (15th). A team with all those great defenders should never be average on defense. A huge component of their defensive woes is their second unit that can't guard a traffic cone. And their worst defenders are Lou Will, Reggie Jackson, and Kennard. Those guys are so bad they're dragging the Clippers Drtg down. Any lineup combination with at least 2 of those 3 players dies on defense. In the PS they will get hunted to oblivion. Giving Kennard $16m seemed like a good idea at the time but now? Not so much.

The Clippers have already benched Kennard in the regular season. Unlikely he gets any playoff minutes. How can they be pretenders because of a guy that won't even play?

Williams and Jackson will see less minutes in the playoffs as the rotation tightens.

How can any team be a pretender solely because of their bench knowing bench minutes go way down in the playoffs?

[bisme37]

I like Kennard, has a nice handle and is more than just a shooter. But the contract he got was always nutty to me. Kennard is a guy you sign for the midlevel (at most) and then brag about what a good value he is. Not a guy you pay like a major piece of the team and the salary cap.

[dc]

I think he'll get better. The guy should basically be the discount version of Gordon Hayward. He had a good season last year and did more than just shoot the 3. Maybe Clips aren't the best fit for him, but I think he can get better.

[uberhikari]

The Clippers are pretenders. They have Kawhi, PG, Ibaka, Zubac, Beverley, Morris, Batum...all these guys are super-elite to marginally above average defenders. They're #4 in Ortg but average in Drtg (15th). A team with all those great defenders should never be average on defense. A huge component of their defensive woes is their second unit that can't guard a traffic cone. And their worst defenders are Lou Will, Reggie Jackson, and Kennard. Those guys are so bad they're dragging the Clippers Drtg down. Any lineup combination with at least 2 of those 3 players dies on defense. In the PS they will get hunted to oblivion. Giving Kennard $16m seemed like a good idea at the time but now? Not so much.

The Clippers have already benched Kennard in the regular season. Unlikely he gets any playoff minutes. How can they be pretenders because of a guy that won't even play?

Williams and Jackson will see less minutes in the playoffs as the rotation tightens.

How can any team be a pretender solely because of their bench knowing bench minutes go way down in the playoffs?

Because the Clippers defense is suspect. When you have Beverley, Kawhi, PG, Serge, and Zubac and you can't overcome Lou Will and Kennard's defense, that raises questions. Even with Kennard being benched the Clippers' defense is still suspect.

Just look at their last 5 games or so with Kennard benched:

vs. Jazz: 115.8 Drtg
vs Nets (with no KD) 118.9 Drtg
vs Wizards 114.5 Drtg
vs Grizzlies 127 Drtg
vs Bucks 111.4 Drtg

These are all games where their starting lineup played. Kennard got 17 total minutes across these five games (he didn't play in 3 and got 6 minutes in another game) but their defense got torched.

This suggests to me that there is something seriously wrong with their defense.

[slicedbread2]

It's his own fault, judging by the reports of what he demanded in terms of a second star beside him.

No one to blame but himself.

He would have had a much better chance at multiple finals appearances by staying with the Raptors.

Not only that, but he handpicked Playoff P as the second star. He left the Raptors and turned down the Lakers because he wanted to play with Playoff P.

He dug his own grave.

Iunno if it’s true or not but there’s reporting that he or that Dennis guy asked us to trade siakam for backboard P

I remember that insanity. Sam Presti wanted Pascal, Freddy+4 1sts and matching salary as a starting point for PG13. Then Masai managed to get Presti to reduce it to 2 1sts for PG+Russ and Kawhi wouldn't even give them a guarantee or sign off on the deal that he'd stay. In retrospect, I'm happy Masai didn't go through with that deal.

It just feels depressing that the Raptors could've been a dynasty in the making and he threw it all away. Dude wouldn't even sign a 1+1 and it felt like what else could've been done? Dude thought the Raptors players weren't good enough but he ended up being wrong and the worse case scenario happened: Clippers curse coming to life like never before and LBJ winning a title. He could've went home after the year and there would be no problem, but he really crippled the Clippers with PG. Oh well I'll cherish the parade and title run forever, but it really stings that there could've been more.

As far as Kennard, I thought the Clippers should've been patient and waited to see how he played in their system fit wise before giving him the extension, but oh well. With Morris, they had no leverage and had to give him the deal or be in a tougher spot.

[Ice Trae]

Damn I thought for sure GSP created this thread

[TheNewEra]

Trading Shamet for Kennard while keeping Lou made no sense at all. Kennard was talked about as a playmaker and guy that needed the ball a bit more than Sham but could get going with it. I didn’t like the Lou and Sham fit either so they brought in Reggie Jackson who was a slight improvement defensively but overall still reckless.

It’s really on the front office because Lou should of been out the door as soon as Luke came in for a defensive upgrade. Now the clippers are only play one guard off the bench and a undersized wing in Mann

[Karate Diop]

Brooklyn isn’t playing Shamet much either. It sounds like Detroit is the only team to win this trade. Bey looks like a steal.

Shamet was struggling early but has started to turn it around, he shot 41% from three over 13 games in February... He's fairly one dimensional but has been regularly contributing recently.

His IQ makes him a better fit for what Brooklyn is trying to accomplish this year, but going forward Bey looks like he'll be the best player out of this group as he had the highest upside and the most versatility...

[TheNewEra]

I feel bad for Kennard. It’s not that he is bad, he is just not as good as Lou and Reggie. He was brought in as a facilitator but with other guys stepping up, there is just no room for him in the rotation. Plus Mann is eating whatever minutes are leftover.

Kennard was always going to be a trade piece. Clips had nobody to throw into a trade for a guy like Rubio or a re-signed Lonzo. Kennard plus Fi plus a couple of second rounders may be able to net a player capable of cracking the rotation. Otherwise, add Beverly or Lou into the mix and you can go for Wall. Clips thinking the long play with the Kennard signing.

Even while he was shooting better on limited shots it was still to much bad defense on the perimeter to be sustainable. We never got the ball out of Lous hands enough to really let a Kennard play his game

If we were keeping Lou then we should of kept the pick and drafted Bey

[The_Hater]

Brooklyn isn’t playing Shamet much either. It sounds like Detroit is the only team to win this trade. Bey looks like a steal.

Shamet was struggling early but has started to turn it around, he shot 41% from three over 13 games in February... He's fairly one dimensional but has been regularly contributing recently.

His IQ makes him a better fit for what Brooklyn is trying to accomplish this year, but going forward Bey looks like he'll be the best player out of this group as he had the highest upside and the most versatility...

Shamet is a better defender than Kennard too.

Even if Shamet flames out, the Kennard part of the deal is by far the worst just because of the contract they gave him.

[Beethoven]

This is why you don't premium money to players when they only have one skill.

Bertans is another. 80 million dollar 5 year deal. And for what? They get hot for one year and are borderline rotation fodder the next. Stop paying money to 3-ball specialist with zero other talent and this wouldn't happen.

16 per isnt premium money though.

Maybe for Tupac

[skones]

It was always a headscratcher

That said, just because a guy gets a DNP one time, doesn't mean he's out of the rotation. It's matchup-specific. Maybe he wins a playoff game for them with his shooting when someone else goes down

For sure. But at $16 million per season he shouldn’t be a matchup specific player either. That by itself tells us how badly the Clips overpaid here

I don't think a shooter of his caliber is "matchup-specific." I think he's really being hurt by a new team and a total lack of a training camp and lack of overall practice time. We know he doesn't have the physical ability to be a difference maker on the defensive end. He's got to use his brain, understanding, and overall IQ, and because of Covid circumstance, he's being forced to learn that on the fly while having his offensive impact mitigated due to the circumstance of overall opportunity on that end of the floor. The results of his trying to do so have been pretty disastrous to this juncture.

He's a clunky fit with so many guard minutes going to Bev, Lou, PG, etc. I don't think the book is closed on him, but it certainly doesn't look great now.

[Harry Garris]

He reminds me of OKC Kyle Singler. An overvalued scrub

Kennard isn't a bad player Ty Lue just prefers to play Lou Williams over him, which I think is a huge mistake because Lou Will is historically one of the worst playoff performers of all time. Kennard would be a better option, but he isn't getting a chance to get many reps.

Kennard isn't great, but he isn't so bad defensively that he'll cost you a playoff game on his own either. Lou Williams is. I just think this is really short term thinking by the Clippers and they'll come to regret it in a few months.

[The_Hater]

It was always a headscratcher

That said, just because a guy gets a DNP one time, doesn't mean he's out of the rotation. It's matchup-specific. Maybe he wins a playoff game for them with his shooting when someone else goes down

For sure. But at $16 million per season he shouldn’t be a matchup specific player either. That by itself tells us how badly the Clips overpaid here

I don't think a shooter of his caliber is "matchup-specific." I think he's really being hurt by a new team and a total lack of a training camp and lack of overall practice time. We know he doesn't have the physical ability to be a difference maker on the defensive end. He's got to use his brain, understanding, and overall IQ, and because of Covid circumstance, he's being forced to learn that on the fly while having his offensive impact mitigated due to the circumstance of overall opportunity on that end of the floor. The results of his trying to do so have been pretty disastrous to this juncture.

He's a clunky fit with so many guard minutes going to Bev, Lou, PG, etc. I don't think the book is closed on him, but it certainly doesn't look great now.

He can’t play defense and that’s generally where being matchup specific issue come into play. Shooters are always useful on offense.

[Harry Garris]

The Clippers are pretenders. They have Kawhi, PG, Ibaka, Zubac, Beverley, Morris, Batum...all these guys are super-elite to marginally above average defenders. They're #4 in Ortg but average in Drtg (15th). A team with all those great defenders should never be average on defense. A huge component of their defensive woes is their second unit that can't guard a traffic cone. And their worst defenders are Lou Will, Reggie Jackson, and Kennard. Those guys are so bad they're dragging the Clippers Drtg down. Any lineup combination with at least 2 of those 3 players dies on defense. In the PS they will get hunted to oblivion. Giving Kennard $16m seemed like a good idea at the time but now? Not so much.

The Clippers have already benched Kennard in the regular season. Unlikely he gets any playoff minutes. How can they be pretenders because of a guy that won't even play?

Williams and Jackson will see less minutes in the playoffs as the rotation tightens.

How can any team be a pretender solely because of their bench knowing bench minutes go way down in the playoffs?

Because the Clippers defense is suspect. When you have Beverley, Kawhi, PG, Serge, and Zubac and you can't overcome Lou Will and Kennard's defense, that raises questions. Even with Kennard being benched the Clippers' defense is still suspect.

Just look at their last 5 games or so with Kennard benched:

vs. Jazz: 115.8 Drtg
vs Nets (with no KD) 118.9 Drtg
vs Wizards 114.5 Drtg
vs Grizzlies 127 Drtg
vs Bucks 111.4 Drtg

These are all games where their starting lineup played. Kennard got 17 total minutes across these five games (he didn't play in 3 and got 6 minutes in another game) but their defense got torched.

This suggests to me that there is something seriously wrong with their defense.

Well Kawhi has slipped just a little bit defensively and Serge definitely isn't the same on that end of the floor either. Lou Will is arguably the worst defensive player in the league, it's him or Trae Young, take your pick really. Beverly isn't the same guy as he's gotten older. The Clippers have two great defenders in Kawhi and PG but what else do they have? I don't see much defensive talent on this roster apart from those two guys.

[skones]

For sure. But at $16 million per season he shouldn’t be a matchup specific player either. That by itself tells us how badly the Clips overpaid here

I don't think a shooter of his caliber is "matchup-specific." I think he's really being hurt by a new team and a total lack of a training camp and lack of overall practice time. We know he doesn't have the physical ability to be a difference maker on the defensive end. He's got to use his brain, understanding, and overall IQ, and because of Covid circumstance, he's being forced to learn that on the fly while having his offensive impact mitigated due to the circumstance of overall opportunity on that end of the floor. The results of his trying to do so have been pretty disastrous to this juncture.

He's a clunky fit with so many guard minutes going to Bev, Lou, PG, etc. I don't think the book is closed on him, but it certainly doesn't look great now.

He can’t play defense and that’s generally where being matchup specific issue come into play. Shooters are always useful on offense.

You can hide/mitigate poor defensive players within a scheme though. That comes with familiarity. I wouldn't sit here and call Korver during those peak years or Duncan Robinson matchup specific guys because what they're capable of offering on the offensive end can greatly outweigh their shortcomings on the other. I think Kennard has the makings of being one of those stupid-special shooters.

[The_Hater]

I don't think a shooter of his caliber is "matchup-specific." I think he's really being hurt by a new team and a total lack of a training camp and lack of overall practice time. We know he doesn't have the physical ability to be a difference maker on the defensive end. He's got to use his brain, understanding, and overall IQ, and because of Covid circumstance, he's being forced to learn that on the fly while having his offensive impact mitigated due to the circumstance of overall opportunity on that end of the floor. The results of his trying to do so have been pretty disastrous to this juncture.

He's a clunky fit with so many guard minutes going to Bev, Lou, PG, etc. I don't think the book is closed on him, but it certainly doesn't look great now.

He can’t play defense and that’s generally where being matchup specific issue come into play. Shooters are always useful on offense.

You can hide/mitigate poor defensive players within a scheme though. .

Sure, to a degree. But generally that poor defender needs to be pretty damm fantastic on offense in order to make it worth the trouble of altering your entire defensive system for them.

Also, sometimes there’s just nobody to hide the player on or the opposing coach just makes sure they’re involved in every single pick and roll and switch in order exploit them. We see this in the playoffs all the time, less often in the regular season.