General manager Onsi Saleh and the Atlanta Hawks have had a fantastic offseason. They’ve landed several impact free agents, executed a steal of a draft day trade, and constructed a playoff-level roster. That roster boasts quality scoring, shooting, and defense with one final player left to add to it.
Among those impact additions from free agency is sharpshooter Luke Kennard: one of the NBA’s best spot-up shooters from deep. He’s an 8-year pro who averaged 8.9 points per game on 43.3% 3-point shooting (9th-best in the league) for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2024-25 season.
On paper, his fit in Atlanta is seamless. Superstar guard Trae Young can always use perimeter threats to kick the ball out to after he’s beaten his defender. The gravity that shooters like Kennard, Seth Curry, Grayson Allen, and others bring to the game has been a valuable commodity. With it, Young can make defenders pay for overcommitting and score while rolling downhill.
Trae Young and Luka Kennard should not share the floor excessively
Young and Kennard are both undersized guards who get attacked defensively. Their lack of lateral quickness and length can be taken advantage of by the league’s top ball handlers. For example, it’s commonplace for Lakers star decision-maker LeBron James to pick on Kennard through pick-and-roll offense whenever they match up. In a playoff setting (which Atlanta clearly aspires to reach), those flaws are magnified as offenses play more deliberately.
To be clear, Kennard is a valuable addition to Atlanta’s rotation, despite the defensive concerns. He fits the mold of a strong offensive fit alongside Young, the NBA’s assist leader a season ago. On the defensive end, though, it’s a pairing that could easily be picked apart by skilled guards like James Harden, Stephen Curry, or Donovan Mitchell.
Head coach Quin Snyder should play Kennard and Young together in small spurts but largely stagger their minutes. Doing so could allow Young to play alongside Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a switchable wing who’s much more compatible with Atlanta’s centerpiece. Snyder will have other options, including incumbent starter Dyson Daniels, to throw at opponents.
Even when his squad is shorthanded, I wouldn’t expect Snyder to pair the two players much for long stretches. After all, we’ve seen offense-focused guard tandems like Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum get picked on in big games before. Even though Kennard profiles as a bench player and not a starter, he should be used sparingly with Trae Young.