I really, really want Luke “The ‘Nard” Kennard to play a big role for the Pistons in the playoffs. Honestly, if he scored, like, 25 points per game in a four game sweep of the Bucks, I wouldn’t even be mad. Well, maybe a little mad, but mostly just really happy for Kennard. I’m tired of him getting marginalized. So tired of his marginalization am I that I would accept an early Bucks playoff exit just so he could get some recognition.
My fantasy will never happen the way I’ve written it out. Dwayne Casey might have won COTY of the Year (while getting fired from the Raptors), but he’s too dumb to let Kennard have sustained success. The only way success comes Kennard’s way if he sees the success train zooming by and grabs huges chunks of success off of it before it quickly departs into the horizon. If that metaphor was too complex for you (re-reading it, it might be too complex for me as well), what I’m saying is, he sometimes gets hot and hits a lot of buckets before Casey realizes what’s going on and takes him out.
Pistons fans might have some insider knowledge that reveals that Kennard has more flaws than I am implying he has. According to me, he’s flawless. Look at that jumper. That jumper is a winning jumper, I am one-hundred percent convinced of that, but maybe there are other factors. How is his defense? Pistons fans, so used to the bad-boy championship-winners and more recent Ben Wallace-led championship-winners, seem to care a lot about that. Is Kennard’s defense the thing that’s holding him back? No, no. It can’t be.