LA Clippers: 3 Offseason Regrets the Clips are Feeling

LA Clippers Offseason Regret #3) The Luke Kennard Extension

The other bit of activity from the draft resulted in another offseason regret (tough draft for the LA Clippers). I don’t hate the trade that sent Landry Shamet away for Luke Kennard and 4 second round picks. To quote Lt. Aldo Raine in my favorite movie, “I’d make that deal.”

Luke Kennard, in theory, does things on the basketball court that Shamet couldn’t. He’s a better on-ball player and can function as a secondary playmaker, in addition to being a sniper from deep. The concern was whether he could stay on the court after playing just 28 games last season and 63 the season before.

And so, before seeing him play a game, the LA Clippers signed him to a three year, $41 Million contract with a team option for a fourth year at roughly $15 Million (there are $8 Million in unlikely incentives, giving the contract a max possible value of 4 years, $64 Million).

If Kennard lives up to his potential, that’s a fine contract, and one that could even be a steal. But if he doesn’t? You have to wonder why the Clippers made the move before even seeing him on the court. And so far, fans of the LA Clippers have been asking that question.

Luke isn’t exactly lighting up the court just yet. He’s on fire from deep, shooting almost 45% from deep, but he’s been fond of passing up an open shot to try to get somebody else a wide open one, and that’s not what he’s on the team for. He’s on the team to hit those open shots.

I’m not giving up on Luke, by any stretch. It takes time to get comfortable, and he’s showing that he can hit threes at the rate we hoped he could. We just need more aggression. But the LA Clippers have to at least be wondering about that contract they gave him before he saw any time on the court.