For Luke Kennard, shooting has been everything.
It has always been who he is. Shooting is what made him a D-1 college player at Duke. It made him a lottery pick in the NBA Draft and it is a skill that will keep the young two guard in the league for a very long time.
Having already been a 40 percent shooter from deep in his career, this is why the former No. 12 overall pick’s recent struggles shooting the ball have been so confounding for fans and, presumably, coaches alike.
We saw this two games ago against the Memphis Grizzlies, when Kennard passed on an open shot in the fourth quarter — though he went on to hit two threes later on — and we saw it over and over again during the month of December, when he closed out 2018 shooting 24 percent from behind the arc, including five contests where he failed to convert on a deep ball.