“Lakers find a sharpshooter on the wings for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James,” Charania wrote on X, “while the Hawks land a veteran guard, create a $11 million trade exception and pick up an asset.
The Hawks received seventh-year guard Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick in the deal.
Kennard, a ninth-year guard who played one season of college basketball at Duke, averaged 7.9 points in 49 games for the Hawks. He leads the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage (74 of 149, 49.7%).
Kennard enjoyed his best month of the season in January, averaging 9.6 points in 14 games. He averaged 6.4 points in 13 games in December.
Kennard leaves a team that’s ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 25-27 record and joins a team that’s sixth in the Western Conference with a 30-19 mark.
Kennard will bring outside shooting help to the Lakers, who rank 22nd in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage (34.9).
Kennard’s coach in Los Angeles is another former Duke sharpshooter, JJ Redick, whose college career ended in 2006, nine years before Kennard arrived at Duke.
Vincent averaged 4.8 points in 29 games for the Lakers.
Kennard signed a one-year, $11 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks in July after spending three seasons with the Detroit Pistons, nearly three seasons with Los Angeles Clippers and two-plus seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies.
This is the third time Kennard has been traded. In November 2020, during the NBA Draft, he was dealt from the Pistons to the Clippers in a three-team deal.
In February 2023, just before the NBA trade deadline, the Clippers traded Kennard to the Grizzlies in another three-team deal.
Kennard was Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in both 2014 and 2015. He set a number of Franklin records, including career points (2,977), assists (470), and 3-pointers (263).
Kennard now resides in Springboro in the offseason.
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