Vincent Ellis: #Pistons’ Luke Kennard told me at halftime that he will head back to Detroit after summer league to rehab left knee strain. It does interrupt his training regiment that he was undergoing in L.A.
Luke Kennard Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G
Born: 06/24/96
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:202 lbs. / 91.6 kg.
Salary: $3,275,280
Born: 06/24/96
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:202 lbs. / 91.6 kg.
Salary: $3,275,280
Rod Beard: #Pistons Dwane Casey on Luke Kennard’s knee injury: “I wouldn’t say it’s a total setback. That’s what the Summer League was for — to see him and Henry get acclimated to what we want them to be offensively.”
JLEIII: When you come in as a rookie, you don’t really have the frame of reference to prepare for the rigors of an NBA season. Now that you have a year under your belt, how did you prepare differently than previous years? Luke Kennard: “There were some things I needed to focus on a little more. I definitely changed some of my workout routines to specifically work on the things I needed to work on. I worked on my shot a lot. I want to be a knockdown shooter. Finishing at the rim … the weight room was a big thing. I got a lot stronger.”
JLEIII: When Blake (Griffin) came halfway through the year, from my point of view you guys really built a good relationship early on. For you, going through your first year and getting a guy of that pedigree, did it change your approach to how you go about the game, see the game? Luke Kennard: “When you get a player like that … he’s been in the league a long time. And, obviously, we have Andre (Drummond) and Reggie (Jackson) and some really good players. But we get Blake, and just his approach to different things in the game, you see that and try to follow that a little bit. We definitely built a good relationship when he got here — the entire team did. We were a close team. I think it’s going to carry over into this next season. I really do.”
Rod Beard: No surprise, but #Pistons Sean Sweeney said Henry Ellenson will play some power forward and center in Summer League. He’ll get a good number of shots up, especially with Luke Kennard out.
It’s a natural progression for Kennard, who said Wednesday the position isn’t new to him since he played there in high school during his stellar career at Franklin (Ohio). “I’m comfortable with it,” Kennard said after the Pistons’ session at Thomas & Mack Arena on the UNLV campus. I’ve been working a lot throughout the offseason on my handle, creating plays off pick-and-rolls. Just having the ball in my hands a little more.
Rod Beard: #Pistons Luke Kennard said his left-knee strain came in non-contact drills yesterday. He had ice on it today but missing Summer League seems more precaution than concern.
