Yahoo Finance NBA draft: Clippers land Luke Kennard, Nets get Landry Shamet in 3-way trade
A three-way trade on the day of the 2020 NBA draft ended up being an exchange of sharpshooters.
In the deal, the Los Angeles Clippers received Luke Kennard from the Detroit Pistons, the Brooklyn Nets received Landry Shamet from the Clippers, and the Pistons got the No. 19 overall pick in the draft. That pick ended up turning into Saddiq Bey, a wing out of Villanova.
Sources: The Clippers are sending No. 19 pick via Brooklyn to the Pistons and receiving Luke Kennard. Nets received Landry Shamet.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2020
All three of those names are players who do their damage mostly from the perimeter.
Clippers bench guard Rodney McGruder is also reportedly headed to Detroit.
Rodney McGruder is leaving the Clippers for the Pistons as part of the three-team deal with the Nets, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 19, 2020
Three 3-point shooters change hands
Kennard, the 12th overall pick of the 2017 draft, is coming off a season in which he averaged career highs in points (15.8), assists (4.1) and rebounds (3.5) per game while shooting 39.9 percent from deep.
Shamet wasn’t far behind with 9.3 points per game on 37.5 percent 3-point shooting. A regular member of the Clippers’ deep rotation, Shamet will now be playing for his third team in as many years in the league after a rookie-year swap from the Philadelphia 76ers in the Tobias Harris trade.
Bey is a 6-foot-9 forward that Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek described as “a great outside shooter for his size and excellent in pick-and-pop situations” in her last mock draft. Previously mocked to the Sacramento Kings at No. 12 overall, Bey could represent very good value for the Pistons.
All three players have the same defining skill and are at different points in their careers, so the trade is more reflective of where each team currently finds itself.
The Clippers are coming off an embarrassing exit in the Western Conference semifinals, and Kennard represents the most dependable of the bunch. The Nets are about to attempt a breakthrough with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and Shamet gives them a solid shooter on a cheap contract. The Pistons are easily the furthest from contending and probably liked the idea of landing the youngest player.
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