Lakers Are Not Expected to Let Luke Kennard Walk This Offseason

When the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Luke Kennard at the February deadline, it looked like a low-cost move to add a shooter for the stretch run. He then went and lit up the Houston Rockets in the playoffs. Nobody was calling it a building block at the time, but that thinking may be shifting.

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the Lakers are now planning to prioritize re-signing Kennard this offseason. Fischer reported:

"It is increasingly anticipated leaguewide that the Lakers will want to retain the recently acquired Luke Kennard after his strong first-round series against Houston. Kennard is playing on an expiring $11 million contract after arriving in a February trade from Atlanta in what was initially billed as the low-cost rental of a shooter for the rest of this season. More and more, though, I'm hearing rival team strategists project Kennard to be part of the Lakers' future plans."

He continued:

"Kennard will be a non-Bird free agent, but there are multiple pathways that the Lakers could explore to keep him in the fold in a nod to the role he has earned in purple and gold under fellow Duke alumnus JJ Redick."

The Lakers acquired Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks for Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick.

Luke Kennard Lakers Contract: What a Re-Signing Could Look Like

With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves both sidelined before the playoffs, Kennard's role exploded overnight. He delivered a playoff career-high 27 points in Game 1 against the Rockets, going a perfect 5-of-5 from three. He added 23 more in Game 2. Through the first three games, he had 64 points and the Lakers were up 3-0.

He cooled off sharply after that. Games 4 and 5 brought just eight combined points, and he went 0-of-5 from three in that stretch. Reaves returned for Game 5, and the Lakers still lost. The series sits at 3-2 heading into Game 6.

The cap situation is not simple. Because Kennard only joined mid-season, the Lakers do not hold his Bird rights. Los Angeles can start an offer around $13.2 million using non-Bird rights and go higher with the mid-level exception. A strong finish to this series would only raise his market further.

Re-signing Reaves and figuring out LeBron James' future will come first on the priority list. But Fischer's reporting makes clear that Kennard is already being viewed as more than a placeholder. Whether the numbers work once the bigger deals are done is the real question this summer.

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