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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 Mitchell Leff/Getty Images /

Cons of trading for Luke Kennard

The LA Clippers have been without Kawhi Leonard for the entire season, and Paul George has been limited to just 26 games. Even so, Luke Kennard has started just 10 games this season. His defensive limitations and lack of positional versatility (at 6’5″ it’s hard to play him at the 3) have led the Clippers to deploy him more as a Sixth Man than as a full-time starter despite the investment in him of a long-term contract.

Adding Kennard and starting him at the 2 means moving Isaac Okoro to the bench, which would be a significant blow to this team’s perimeter defense. It would likely mean the end of the Tower City starting lineup, with Lauri Markkanen moved to the bench in favor of a defensive-minded starting 3.

More likely, then, adding Kennard would be to bring him off the bench as the Clippers are doing, using him in a similar role to how they are using Cedi Osman this season. Is Kennard a significant upgrade over what Osman is providing, enough to use their one major contract bullet in Ricky Rubio on?

Kennard has been a reasonable defender this season, but he has been downright bad on that end over the course of the season. Even good defensive teams like the Cavs can play poor defenders, but there’s a limit to how many a rotation can handle. Playing Garland and Kennard together would be a difficult proposition in defending opposing backcourts. Paying Kennard $13-16 per season (depending on incentives) to rarely play with the team’s best player seems a poor use of resources.

Kennard absolutely solves one of this roster’s biggest needs, a knockdown shooter and secondary playmaker to fill minutes on the wing. The question is whether his weaknesses balance the equation too far the other way. At the right price, Kennard could be a smart addition, but he would put even more strain on head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to find the right rotations.

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Kennard’s hot play of late may take him off the trading block, and the Cavs may set their sights on a larger wing to use their assets on. There is no indication that the Clippers and Cavs have discussed such a move at all. If they did, it would be an intriguing roll of the dice on a young player who still boasts upside to improve, one of the league’s best shooters in an age where you can never have too many.