One of several players currently on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster who is about to become a free agent and they will almost certainly want to keep is guard Luke Kennard. They acquired him just before the trade deadline in February, and he instantly infused them with some much-needed 3-point shooting and bench scoring.
In 32 regular-season games with the Lakers, he averaged nine points in 23 minutes a game while shooting 44.8% from 3-point range, and in the playoffs, he averaged 11.5 points per game and made 47.4% of his 3-point attempts. Losing him would be a sizable blow to a team that badly needs depth, 3-point shooting and complementary scoring.
After the team was knocked out of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kennard said he felt blessed to be a part of the Lakers.
“When I first got traded here, it was, ‘How can I make an impact?’” Kennard said. “Like, I want to make an impact, I want to go win and be a part of something special. I think just playing for the Lakers and playing with some of the greats of the game, you don’t take it for granted. I didn’t and it’s an honor. I’m blessed to be in the position that I was in.
“I think for me as a player, just to be a part of an organization like this is something special. You see it firsthand and like I said, I’m just blessed to be able to be a part of it. Obviously going into Year 10 next year, I wanna win. That’s a big thing for me. Wherever that may be, obviously I’m a free agent but gonna spend some time with my family and decide on some stuff later.
“But like I said, I’ve been honored and blessed to be part of this organization. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Kennard showed that he’s more than just a 3-point specialist by displaying an ability to attack closeouts, work off the dribble and even occasionally handle the ball and facilitate when needed. Complementary players like that are very valuable to teams such as the Lakers that are trying to win the NBA championship.
He made $11 million this season, so while he will cost Los Angeles some of its salary cap flexibility to keep him, he shouldn’t be expensive. As long as he doesn’t demand much more money than he made this year, keeping him should be worth every penny.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Luke Kennard says he’s blessed to be part of the Lakers
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
