Having been reportedly interested in him ahead of this year’s trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks’ interest in Luke Kennard may be something to keep in mind.
This year’s NBA offseason has yet to even begin, but the Milwaukee Bucks have been a big team to talk about for obvious reasons.
Their disappointing playoff exit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this year has set the stage for roster upgrades and being players in the simmering trade market. They’ve already been linked to some big names and their interest in shoring up their playmaking and shot creation needs could always lead them back to previous targets.
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On the most recent episode of the ‘Game Theory’ podcast hosted by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, fellow Athletic scribe and Detroit Pistons beat writer, James Edwards III, divulged some interesting insight when it came to the status of Detroit guard Luke Kennard and the interest the Bucks have had in the 24-year-old:
"“I know that Milwaukee has had interest in Kennard for at least a year and people remember, Milwaukee obviously handled business, but the year Milwaukee and Detroit played in the first round of the playoffs, Kennard was the leading scorer for the Pistons in his first playoff series.”"
Edwards had previously shared knowledge of the Bucks’ interest in Kennard on the night before this year’s trade deadline back in February during an appearance on Fox Sports Detroit:
"“You hear names like Phoenix, Philly, I think a team to look out for in all of this is Milwaukee. Obviously, they got a good taste of Kennard last year in the playoffs. Even though they swept the Pistons, Kennard played really well. They’re a team in the same division so they know him well, and they’re looking for kind of another creator to add to their team as they make a championship push.”"
To be very clear, Edwards’ comments should not be interpreted as trade talks between the Bucks and the Pistons are ongoing. All that it means is the Bucks’ extended interest in Kennard has been significant enough to the point that they have already discussed Kennard in trade talks previously before and time will tell whether they will be revisited again.
In a very general sense, Kennard checks a lot of the boxes of what the Milwaukee Bucks are looking to add this offseason.
But by no means is the path easy for those talks to lead to something substantial as there are a few things to consider when it comes to Kennard, his future and exploring ways to bring him into the fold in Milwaukee.
For starters, it’s important to note that the Bucks had previously discussed Kennard with the Pistons’ former front office regime. With new general manager Troy Weaver now in place and having overhauled the rest of the team’s front office, it’s undetermined how that would factor in fielding trade calls and discussing potential deals.
On the other hand, it wasn’t Weaver that selected Kennard with the 12th overall pick more than three years ago. Even for as close to a blank slate as the Pistons’ foundation is at this stage, Kennard is heading into the final year of his rookie-scale contract and Weaver will have to make a decision on his future, especially as Kennard will be extension eligible this offseason.
That’s made even more complicated by the fact that Kennard’s third NBA season was disrupted by an extensive case of bilateral knee tendinitis, which ultimately served to be a season-ending injury and limited Kennard to 28 regular season appearances. Whether that will follow Kennard throughout his career remains to be seen, but it will be over a year until Kennard plays his first NBA back from his injury, given the rumored target dates for starting next season.
Of course, Kennard’s long-term injury didn’t stop the Bucks into inquiring about Kennard ahead of this year’s trade deadline. But if a deal was already tough to pull off then, the difficulties have only been made more apparent when trying to strike a potential deal.
Kennard’s expiring $5.2 million salary is particularly thorny for the Bucks to make a deal for as they can only theoretically offer their own players on rookie-scale contracts, Donte DiVincenzo and D.J. Wilson, to make some kind of straight up deal work. And that won’t be enough to catch the Pistons’ interest without factoring in some draft compensation.
The Pistons will be a team that will certainly receive a lot of calls from contenders this offseason, given they have Derrick Rose’s very team-friendly and expiring $7.6 million salary on their books and his resurgence last season has improved his value around the league.
It’s fair to predict that the Bucks will be among those contending teams that will give Detroit’s front office a call if they haven’t already and perhaps they will revisit those Kennard talks, provided that interest still exists at this point.