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Luke Kennard Wants to Participate in Three-Point Contest
Just over four months into his 4-year / $64M contract extension, Luke Kennard has silenced any and all skeptics of the deal. Many critics began labeling the contract a failure before it even started, perhaps forgetting that it did not go into effect until the beginning of this 2021-22 season. Even if the contract extension had started immediately after it was agreed upon, the criticism never made any sense, and it certainly looks even worse now.
Since coming to the Clippers, Luke Kennard is converting on 44.2% of his three-point attempts. Amongst all players who have attempted at least 450 threes during that span, only Joe Harris (47.4%) has connected on a higher percentage than Luke Kennard has. When looking at just this season, which is when Kennard's contract extension began, nobody in the NBA has shot the ball like he has. Amongst all players who have attempted at least 250 threes this season, Kennard's 43.9% clip ranks first in the entire NBA.
This shooting ability from Kennard has certainly caught the attention of opposing teams, as they have been relentlessly chasing him off the three-point line. "Teams have been a little more locked in, playing on my body a little bit more, so it's been tougher," Kennard said after his 23-point performance against the Miami Heat. "We have good screeners on the team, I've been a screener too, trying to free up some space. It's just something we're trying to build on," Kennard said.
While those around the NBA know what Kennard brings, he hopes for the opportunity showcase this on a national stage. When asked if he would like to participate in the three-point contest, which will take place in his hometown state of Ohio, Kennard said, "Ya, that would be really cool. We'll see. Especially being back in Ohio, it'd be a pretty cool thing to do. Back home, friends and family. I know a lot would go, but we'll see. Just focused on what we got going on right now."
This is not the first time Kennard has expressed his desire to compete in the three-point contest, stating back in December that "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid growing up and watching the three-point contest. It's something I would love to do. And being back in Ohio, where I'm from, I feel like my entire hometown would be there. It would be neat."
Kennard's head coach Ty Lue also expressed his desire to see Luke in the three-point contest, stating that "I think he'd do great. I think if he goes and he's able to do it, to win a three-point shooting contest, it would give him a lot more confidence coming back to the team. We stay on Luke about turning down shots... His job is to shoot the basketball."
As frequently emphasized by Ty Lue, Luke Kennard's job is to shoot the basketball. While the aforementioned stats confirm that Kennard does this job at an elite level, what his shooting ability has meant for the Clippers as a team often goes overlooked. While the Clippers have unfortunately not gotten an opportunity to pair Luke Kennard with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this season, Kennard's production is a big reason why the team has stayed alive in the Western Conference playoff picture.
When Luke Kennard is on the floor, the Clippers are at their best. In Kennard's 1,183 minutes on the court this season, the Clippers are posting a 107.8 ORTG, 104.8 DRTG, and a +3.0 NTRG. These numbers drop across the board when Kennard sits, with the ORTG falling to 103.6, the DRTG jumping up to 108.5, and the team's overall NTRG dropping to -4.9.
While a two-week stay in the league's health and safety protocols kept Kennard away from the team much longer than anyone had hoped for, his production when he has been out there is undeniable. The Clippers' previously mentioned team ratings when Kennard is on the floor this season may seem relatively insignificant, due to the fact that the numbers are not overwhelmingly dominant; however, it is important to note that 63% of Kennard's minutes this season have come without Paul George alongside him.
In the 26 games that Paul George played before being sidelined indefinitely with a torn UCL, the Clippers were posting a +6.1 NTRG in the minutes that Kennard and George shared the floor together. In the minutes that Paul George was on the floor without Luke Kennard, the Clippers were posting a -3.6 NTRG.
It also must not be forgotten that Kawhi Leonard is on this Clippers team. Pairing Luke Kennard alongside him is not only great in theory, but has already proven successful on the game's biggest stage. In last year's playoffs, the duo of Kawhi Leonard and Luke Kennard posted a +21.5 NTRG in their 49 minutes together. While the sample size is unfortunately much smaller than it would have been without Kawhi's injury, it gives fans a glimpse into how dominant the Clippers can be when surrounding their star talent with Luke Kennard's shooting and gravity.
These numbers shouldn't serve as some major revelation, because surrounding star talent with elite spacing has been an NBA blueprint for a while now; however, shooters like Luke Kennard are not easy to come by. That last point is the one that needs to be driven home. Shooters like Luke Kennard are not easy to come by. As all of the stats confirm, he has been one of the best, if not the best shooter in the NBA since coming to the Clippers. When comparing Luke Kennard's deal to other players who have been paid to do what he does, the deal looks much more team-friendly than anything else.
Joe Harris, the only player with a higher three-point percentage than Luke Kennard the last two years, signed a 4-year / $75M contract extension in 2020. Duncan Robinson, who has also made his place in the NBA exclusively as a shooter, signed a 5-year / $90M contract with the Miami Heat. Buddy Hield, who is having an underwhelming season for the Sacramento Kings, is not quite halfway through a 4-year / $94M contract. When comparing Luke Kennard's 4-year / $64M deal to the players just mentioned, it is clear that the Clippers are getting an elite value. This is not to say those guys did not earn their deals, but rather to compare Kennard's production and annual salary to players who were paid to do something similar.
This is why, even before Kennard's breakout season, nobody should have been criticizing his contract extension. Shooting in the NBA is not cheap, even if it is the only attribute a player provides. Shooting at the level Luke Kennard has achieved since coming to the Clippers, typically comes with a price tag much higher than the one the Clippers are paying for his services.
A trip to the three-point contest should be a formality at this point; however, in case the masses are still unaware of who Luke Kennard is, it would also serve as much-deserved recognition for one of the best shooters in all of basketball.
