The Pistons need a shooter. Just one. They don’t really have any right now and it’s costing them as they fall in the standings. Langston Galloway, prior to tonight, was probably their best active one. That just doesn’t cut it, maybe in 1978, but not in 2018. Note: I’m not counting Blake Griffin even though he’s leading the team in both three-point makes and three-point percentage, because he’s too busy doing everything else on the court to space the floor.
Luke Kennard has been sidelined with a “shoulder injury” (76ers fans recoil), which hasn’t helped. Is he the shooter they need? Let’s get straight to the point: yes. A good version of Kennard (prior to tonight he was shooting 14 percent on threes) would provide untold benefits to the Pistons’ spacing, morale, and whiteness.
It’s not a great sign that he totally showed out, scoring 28 points on all manner of crazy jumpers, and the Pistons still lost. But Griffin was out, and the 76ers might be good, so let’s ignore that and just be really happy for this career-high extravagnza. No reminiscing about how the Pistons could’ve had Donovan Mitchell instead. That kind of negative thinking will get nobody anywhere. The past is the past, and now it turns out Mitchell isn’t even THAT great and Kennard is clearly on the up and up.