Luke Kennard only needed to look to the opposing bench to find the player who he should be trying to emulate. No, it’s not Kosta Koufos, even though Kennard is trying to emulate Koufos’ cataclysmic hair loss. I’m talking about Buddy Hield here.
Kennard and Hield are similar players. Both are shooting guards who are of the “scoring only” variety. Both of them have competent enough ball-handling ability to get to their spots, but neither of them is going to be a full-time playmaker. They’re both just pure scorers who prefer the perimeter/midrange but can also drive inside from time to time. It’s just that, at this point, Hield is way better than Kennard, both for talent reasons and coaching reasons.
Hopefully Kennard watched Hield hit the falling-to-the-side game-winning three-pointer and thought, “One day, my teammates and coaches will believe in my shooting ability enough for me to take that shot instead of one of my garbage bricklaying teammates.”