King James Gospel
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Pros and cons of a Cavs trade for Clippers’ Luke Kennard

By Josh Cornelissen

Luke Kennard, LA Clippers. Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Clarkson Creative/Getty Images
Luke Kennard, LA Clippers. Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Clarkson Creative/Getty Images /
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Luke Kennard, LA Clippers. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images /

Pros of trading for Luke Kennard

On January 25th the LA Clippers came back from 35 points down to defeat the Washington Wizards. The completion of that comeback included two 3-pointers and a made free-throw from Kennard in the final nine seconds. It was the capstone to a brilliant performance of 25 points, eight-rebounds and six assists.

The rebounds and assists were icing on the cake, but Kennard’s best skill is his shooting. He is shooting a scorching 43.9 percent from deep on a robust 6.3 attempts per game; among players taking at least five 3-pointers per game that ranks second only to Eric Gordon (minimum 20 games played).

This is not some hot shooting, either, as Kennard is a career 41.9 percent 3-point shooter; his worst shooting season is 39.4 percent. He has consistently been one of the most accurate shooters in the league for his entire career.

The Cavs currently rank 21st in 3-point attempts per game, and a reasonable 13th in 3-point percentage at 35.1 percent. Among consistent rotation players the Cavs have Darius Garland and Kevin Love shooting at strong clips, and Lauri Markkanen and Cedi Osman bearing the reputation of shooters but not bringing the accuracy this season. Kennard steps in immediately and changes that, juicing this team’s shooting and opening up space inside for this team’s dynamic big men.

Kennard is a decent ball-handler and playmaker, not a backup point guard but someone who can provide secondary playmaking and perimeter creation alongside Garland or another lead guard. He is also just 25 years old and under contract for three more seasons (the final year being a team option), making him an excellent fit for this team’s timeline.

In essence, Kennard can be a better and higher-volume version of what Cedi Osman has been for the team this season. With Osman garnering attention around the league, perhaps the team could swap him for value and add in Kennard, goosing their shooting while coming out neutral in the asset game.

For a final twist, Luke Kennard coming to the Cavs would mean a homecoming of sorts. Kennard is an Ohio high school basketball legend, winning Ohio Basketball Player of the Year as a junior and senior, passing LeBron James and finishing second in points scored in state history (to Jon Diebler).