Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - BONUS: Lakers Make Move, Acquire 3-Point Specialist Luke Kennard

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

Thursday morning brought good news for Lakers fans who wanted to see the team make a move, even around the margins. The team has acquired sharpshooter Luke Kennard from Atlanta in exchange for Gabe Vincent and their remaining tradable second round pick. This is a good, low cost move for LA. While he has shortcomings as a defender -- like, many shortcomings -- Kennard is a spectacularly good shooter. He's currently leading the league in percentage (49.7%), has five straight seasons over 43%, and is a career 44.2% shooter from deep. He is the real deal in this space. He'll rebound when possible, and is a solid passer who understands how to keep an offense rolling. So why is he available for a second round pick? Again, defense, which limits his big-minute playability. (Plus, Atlanta has acquired Corey Kispert in the Trae Young deal, who is a younger version of Kennard, and Wednesday picked up Buddy Hield, too.) Kennard is an expiring contract, so the Lakers don't owe him anything beyond this season. In the process, they also get a little bit more wiggle room below the apron, which could help during the buyout period. Ultimately, Kennard won't fix all of their problems - no one player can - but he shores up a major weakness that should have knock on effects around the roster. All in all, a good deal.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Turbo TaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.  DoorDashFrom tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.Get snacks, drinks, gear — whatever gets you through the season — delivered right to your door.DoorDash. In your bag all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBAQuoMake this the year where no opportunity - and no cutsomer - slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnba.BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist.  Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA. IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcastGametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Lakers make a move. They acquire Luke Canard from the Atlanta Hawks. We'll tell you why that makes them better, potentially on both sides of the ball. That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Lockdown Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcasts, whether that's Apple, whether that's Spotify.

Maybe you're one of the 37,000-plus subscribers to the Lockedon. on Lakers YouTube channel. No matter how you're doing it, you're part of making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network, and this or any other known universe, Brian Kamenetsky, Andy Kamenetski, a long time covering the Lakers,

nearly 20 years, the SPN, the L.A. Times, the athletic. And over that time, Andy, we have seen many shooters come to the Lakers. Often they forget how to shoot, but the Lakers have tried to fix that problem as much as they can with the acquisition they made on trade deadline day,

Thursday morning. they acquire Luke Knard from the Atlanta Hawks for a second round pick and Gabe Vincent and Luke Conard he's got some flaws as a player but you can't complain about the shooting he is quite literally leading the NBA in three point percentage 49.3% this year he hasn't been under 40% for a season since I believe the 1920 season in 9 in 9 season 39.3% this year he hasn't been under 40% for a season since I believe the 1920 season in 9. He shot 39.9%. In nine seasons in the NBA, Luke Conard has shot below 40% twice. Right. And one of them was 39%. 39.9. I believe the other one was 39.7.

Yeah, but I'm just saying, like, those are the only seasons in the NBA. He's never been below 39%. This year, he is on relatively low volume, the 49.7%. He's shooting 3.2 threes per game. he averages for and change for his career, but he's had seasons where he shoots five, six, six plus threes per game at that same clip. He is,

his volume is based entirely on how much he's playing in any given season. He is as legitimate a shooter as you're going to find. He is a knockdown, established gravity. You have to guard him. You will notice him if he's open shooter. Right. has decent secondary skills. He's not an awful rebounder for his size on a permanent basis.

He's actually a pretty decent ball mover. He will make the right pass and certainly won't gum up the works with the Lakers. He is the type of player that I think JJ Reddick will really enjoy weaving into his defense. Is his offense? Why was he available then for a second round pick in the expiring Gabe Vincent? Well, for a couple reasons. First, Atlanta has acquired. Corey Kispert and the Tray Young Deal, who is a younger, a little bit better, and even more handsome version of Luke Kinnard.

And on Wednesday in the Jonathan Kaminga, Chris Stapp's Boriz deal, acquired Buddy Heel, who is a more Bahamian version of Luke Kinnard. They had three Kinnards. One could afford to go. And also, this is the part that I think a lot of people will focus on Andy. he's not a good defender. No, Kinnard is very weak on that side of the ball. Although for that matter, neither were Buddy Healed or Corey Kisper.

Gisper is a little better, but like, yeah, you're right. None of those guys were that good. But that is why somebody who shoots at the level that Kinnard does is available for the expiring contract of Gabe Vincent and a second round pick. A couple little housekeeping notes. Kinnard is himself an expiring contract. the Lakers have not eaten into any of their flexibility for this summer, but will give themselves an opportunity to hold on to somebody like Kinnard if he fits in really well,

which I actually think he could, certainly fills a bigger knee than Gabe Vincent does. And they also save themselves about half a million dollars, which could come in handy when buyout season comes because it puts the Lakers a little further away from the apron. All right. So all of that housekeeping aside, let's get into the acquisition of, Luke Kinnard, your thoughts, Andy? I think he's a really good piece of business for the Lakers. Gabe Vincent was going to be in all likelihood

out of the rotation once Austin Reeves started getting back up to his normal 35 or so minutes per game. It had been trending in that direction anyway for all of the jokes and complaints from Lakers fans and even Lakers media about Gabe Vincent being JJ's favorite. him talking about how he would love to coach an entire team of Gabe Vincent's, presumably a team where you're not that concerned about winning. But it's an enjoyable coaching experience. Like Gabe's minutes had actually gone down during the period without Austin Reeves.

And that is a period where if Gabe was going to be a part of the rotation moving forward, his minutes would have gone up. The writing had been on the wall. We had talked about that earlier this week before, when Austin returned, before we even knew Gabe was going to be traded. Luke Kinnard gives them desperately needed shooting. They had one catching shoot option on this team that you would really care about it all in Rui as far as the non-stars go.

Like LeBron, Luca, and Austin always have gravity just because of who they are. But as far as the role players, they had one established three-point shooter in Rui. have two. Luke Kinnard can help juice a second unit that really needs scoring option, really needs some type of productivity and punch. As you mentioned before, Kinnard doesn't get in the way at all, at least automatically, of what everyone seems to believe are the Lakers' off-season plans and approach. Regardless of what you think of that plan or approach,

it does not get in the way of it at all. As far as the defensive concerns with Luke Kinnard, because they're real, A, the defense is going to be dicey with or without Luke Kinnard. Like, in a lot of ways, he's a seamless fit. You can put him right on the floor and he doesn't change a damn bit along those lines. But also, too, and I think this is what you were implying in the introduction, one of the ways to try to get the best some of their parts defensively. with a roster that has defensive flaws any way you slice it, is to create the most proficient offense, Luke Kinnard can be a part of that.

If you're a team that is taking a lot of three-pointers, and then the Lakers don't necessarily, their three-point volume is in the bottom third of the league, or right on the fringe of the bottom third of the league at the very least, and you are missing them, and that the Lakers are deeply in the bottom third of the league, in terms of three point makes. That is a lot of long rebounds.

That is a lot of transition opportunities for the opposition. You know, you want teams to take the ball out of their own basket. And the Lakers have had too many games this year where they are fighting an uphill battle where, you know, they're being outshot from three point range, you know, by a factor of two or three.

And it's just, it's not a, it's not a way to run a rodeo. And so, you know, Kinnard, I think, will settle into the role that he's basically played throughout his career, which is a 20 to 25 a minute guy. I think that's about where he'll be with this group, you know, maybe a little less on. I would think a little bit less.

We'll see. It wouldn't shock me if occasionally it was a little bit more. Just depending on, you know, if the defensive integrity holds up and, the fit as a floor spacer around Luca is, uh, is good. I could see this going in a lot of different ways. But like, you know, when you have a Luca Donchich centered offense, you need a couple things to make it run ideally. One is an athletic center. He's average just really quickly for his career. He's average 23 minutes a game. Right. It's between 20 and 25 minutes.

I'm I know, but that includes a couple seasons where he's been, I would expect probably closer to like 18 to 22. And I mean, the only reason it matters is just you're talking about a potentially more crowded rotation because Gabe Vincent was going to be out of the rotation, both of us think. I don't think Luke Kinnard equals taking somebody out of this rotation. That's the only reason I'm bringing it up. I think there's a lot of different ways they could look to slice us, depending on what kinds of lineups they're playing.

But again, if he plays 18 to 22, it's in the, that general vicinity of 20 to 25. But either way, you know, the, you need a couple things. You need a center who can play the pick and roll and ideally get above the rim. And you need spacing. You need outside shooters. And that is what the Lakers have acquired here. So it is about as good as they could do given the sort of the self-imposed restrictions that they have.

And then the non-self-imposed, the fact they didn't have a lot to deal, this was the only second-round pick. The Lakers had the capacity to trade. Like we saw, for example, Ayadusumu get moved to Minnesota Thursday morning as well. Great pickup for the Timberwolves. That cost them Rob Dillingham, their first round pick, I believe, last year. And four second rounders. And Leonard Miller. And Leonard Miller.

So like the Lakers didn't have nearly, they don't have a Rob Dillingham to trade and they didn't have the second rounders either. Right. So all in all, like you say, this was a really nice piece of. It reinforces really. Yeah, it really it reinforces really quickly, something you and I both said. The Lakers were not in a position to make seriously impactful moves for this season. Like you try to put them closer to the inner circle contention. This team is generously more than one player away from that.

And the Lakers do not have close to enough assets to make multiple moves of that caliber. And frankly, they should be prioritizing the larger picture with Luca ahead of this season, this year's playoff run, whatever. And it's not even close. Yeah. And I like the small little perks of now being able to, you know, you have control over Kinar, who they might end up renouncing it. anyway. We'll see what they want to do in the off season. But if it's a good fit, then you have an avenue to bring him back and all of these other things. It is, and we don't have to get deep into it today. Another reminder of how Dalton Connect has failed

as a young draftee and a few other things. But all in all, a solid move for the Lakers, I think it is probably unlikely that they do anything else between now and 12 o'clock Pacific time, deadline is over, but obviously if they do, we will be here to recap it. Before we go, though, Andy, we do need to tell people about this. Well, that Locked-on Lakers is brought to you by Indeed. Hiring's not just about finding someone willing to take the job. It's about finding the right person with the right background who can actually help your business move forward. And if you want candidates who match what you're looking for, Indeed, sponsored jobs is the move. Instead of hoping the right person stumbles across your post, Indeed, helps you match with

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A reminder, the Lakers are playing the Sixers tonight. No, Jackson Hayes. He was out for shoving a mascot who I'm sure he knows what he did, the mascot, not Jackson. And yeah, we'll be back after the game to wrap it all up along with the deadline news.