The Boston Celtics roster needs another quality outside shooter, and without a first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, free agency and the trade market are the best places to find that player.
One option on the trade market for the Celtics to consider is Los Angeles Clippers guard Luke Kennard.
Longtime basketball reporter Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reported Thursday that L.A. is "shopping Kennard ahead of Thursday’s NBA draft, and will look to move him next month if no deal can be reached."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Kennard is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league. He led all players during the 2021-22 regular season with a 44.9 3-point percentage. He is a 42.5 percent 3-point shooter over his five-year career.
His defense is good but not great. That said, the Celtics have enough quality defensive players that Kennard could step in, provide excellent outside shooting and not be a huge liability on defense. Kennard is an elite free throw shooter, too, hitting on 89.6 percent of his attempts last season.
Kennard is signed for two more seasons and has a salary cap hit of about $14.4 million for 2022-23. Therefore, his salary would fit into the $17.1 million trade exception the Celtics created from the Evan Fournier deal with the New York Knicks last summer.
Boston Celtics
Kennard also played with Celtics star Jayson Tatum at Duke during the 2016-17 NCAA season.