Luke Kennard
Kennard is a bench shooter on the Suns' second unit. He is a catch-and-shoot specialist whose minutes will be shared with other backup guards.
Role
He came off the bench in his Suns debut on Saturday against the Warriors and played 18 minutes. That was after he missed the season opener with a minor knee concern (NBC Sports and ESPN, checked 26 October). The SI preseason projection has Booker, Green, Brooks, Bridges and Williams starting. Its bench list is Gillespie, Goodwin, Kennard, Fleming, Ighodaro and Maluach. Roundtable describes a second unit of Kennard, Gillespie, Goodwin, Dunn or Fleming, and Maluach. The backup guards competing with him for minutes are Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin. Goodwin played 22 minutes in the opener while Kennard was out. NBC Sports expects Kennard's return to cut into Goodwin's minutes. I found no usage-rate figure and no minutes target from the coaching staff.
Kennard is one of the NBA's more accurate three-point shooters (NBC Sports). He spaces the floor next to Booker and Green. Roundtable calls him a virtual lock for the core rotation and expects high-volume shooting whatever the lineup. He also made 3 of 5 threes in his debut. He shot 53.3 percent from the field and 91.3 percent from the line last season (NBC Sports). SI also lists him as a possible spot starter if the starters are short-handed.
This is a capped role on a deep, crowded roster. SI projects an 11- or 12-man rotation with matchup-based wing swaps. ESPN's fantasy note says Kennard, Gillespie and Goodwin could cut into each other's playing time, so his value is hard to project. RotoWire's earlier note said his role is unlikely to grow much absent many injuries. He played only 18 minutes in his first game, and the knee issue is recent, so I would not assume it is fully behind him. The reporting I found does not say how the knee was managed after the game.
Where analysts split
The disagreement is over how the backup-guard minutes get split among Kennard, Gillespie and Goodwin. ESPN says the three could cut into each other and are hard to project. NBC Sports expects Kennard's return to come at Goodwin's expense. One game of data cannot settle it. Gillespie's expected role is not addressed in the coverage I found.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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