LUKE Kennard

Kennard wears number 8 for Phoenix. He is a 6-5 guard who weighs 206 pounds. He is 30 years old and has 9 seasons of NBA experience. He played his college ball at Duke. His role has always been clear: space the floor and make shots. He does not need the ball to help. His usage rate last season was 13.1, one of the lower marks for a rotation guard. That fits a roster that has other players creating offense. He also takes care of the ball. He averaged 0.8 turnovers per game last season. He can make a simple pass, too, with 2.2 assists per game. Phoenix is paying for efficiency, not volume, and that is what Kennard has delivered for most of his career.

Kennard spent last season, 2025-26, with the Lakers. He played in 78 games and averaged 21.5 minutes. He scored 8.4 points per game with 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists. The scoring average is modest. The efficiency is not. He shot 53.3 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three. He made 91.3 percent of his free throws. His true shooting percentage was 68.9. Those are elite shooting numbers for any guard. His plus-minus was 0.5 per game. He added 0.7 steals and 0.1 blocks. He is not a stopper on defense, and his numbers do not suggest one. But a guard who shoots like that in 21.5 minutes a night changes how defenses guard everyone else on the floor.

Kennard has played four games in a Suns uniform this October. The best came against San Antonio, a win. He scored 20 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 25.0 minutes. He was plus 11.0 in that game. The other three games were losses. Against Detroit he had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 15.2 minutes. Against Chicago he had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 13.3 minutes, and he was plus 4.0 despite the loss. Then came the second San Antonio game, with 4 points in 13.6 minutes. The minutes have been uneven. The 20-point night shows what he can do when he gets a real run of playing time.

Kennard's last games with the Lakers came against Houston and Oklahoma City. Against Houston he scored 1 point in 31.2 minutes in a loss. In the next game, a win, he had 3 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 29.0 minutes. Then came four straight losses to Oklahoma City. He scored 7, 10, 18 and 5 points in those games. His best night was 18 points in 29.3 minutes. His plus-minus was minus 14.0 and minus 15.0 in two of those games. Oklahoma City made scoring hard for him. Those games are part of his file now. The Suns are betting that his full season, not one tough stretch in May, is the better guide to what he brings.