Luke Kennard’s historic shooting splits highlights everything wrong with his game

Luke Kennard is on track to set history this season, yet this isn’t exactly a good thing.

Kennard is currently one of the best shooters in the league. He began the season as the active leader in career three point percentage and has only improved upon this tally. Over halfway through this season, Cool Hand Luke is on pace to shoot nearly 50/50/90 – a feat nobody has accomplished while shooting a qualifying amount of attempts.

But Kennard’s high percentage is the byproduct of his most toxic trait. He simply does not shoot the ball enough. 

Kennard isn’t using his strengths the way Atlanta needs him to

Despite being a top-three shooter in the league and a quietly impressive playmaker, the Hawks' offense is worse with Kennard on the floor. To be fair, there is a lot of noise in this data. Kennard typically plays with limited offensive lineups due to his role as the microwave scorer.

But even DARKO, the league’s favorite advanced stat, judges Kennard as a negative offensive player. How can this be?

Kennard shoots just 3.2 threes a game. Even if he makes half of these (which he essentially is this season), this is an average of 4.8 points a night generated by Kennard – and only 1.4 points over “replacement level.” While it is nice to have a shooter of Kennard’s caliber, you can find other players who generate 1.4 points of offense above replacement level while not being a traffic cone on defense.

To put Kennard’s hesitance in a different context, Kennard ranks 13th on the team in 3pt attempts per 100 possessions. This is flat-out unacceptable – Kennard should be at the top of the list. After all, who do you want taking the most threes on your team if not the active career 3pt percentage leader?

Kennard’s stats are sexy, but they mask the truth behind his game. He hasn’t been an effective offensive player this season, perhaps because he is chasing these incredible stats. Given that he is the worst perimeter defender on the Hawks, it makes sense that his minutes have been drastically reduced.

So if you notice that Kennard’s percentages dip later in the season, don’t jump to conclusions. First, see whether he has shot the ball more frequently. If he does, his numbers will slip but his impact will multiply. If he continues to shoot a mere three deep shots a game, expect his numbers to feel like “empty calories.”