Luke Kennard’s contract extension with Clippers hinges on his health

Luke Kennard will reward the LA Clippers for his extension if he can just stay healthy.

Luke Kennard hasn’t played a single game for the LA Clippers yet, but he’s already cashing in on a big payday.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 24-year-old former Detroit Piston has agreed to a surprising four-year, $64 million contract extension with the Clippers, who recently traded for him on draft night. The deal includes $56 million guaranteed, with the remaining $8 million coming in incentives that are considered “reachable.”

The value of Luke Kennard’s health goes deeper than the value of his contract

The deal comes with significant risk for the Clippers, but much like the Paul George and Marcus Morri contract extensions, this sizable investment could be a worthwhile one if LA finally gets over the hump and wins a championship.

In the case of the Kennard extension, however, there’s more to it than just that. While it’s admirable the Clippers are willing to shell out the money required to keep a title contender intact, and it’s also understandable why they’d be willing to do so with a mega-wealthy owner like Steve Ballmer footing the bill, the inherent risk here is Kennard’s injury problems through his first three seasons in the league.

Over that stretch, he’s missed nine, 19 and 38 games, and he’s been trending in the wrong direction ever since his rookie year. Last season, the former Duke product dealt with knee injuries on top of the shoulder, foot and knee injuries that have kept him out for a handful of games here and there over his first two seasons.

With that being said, the potential reward is that Kennard — an effective shooter, secondary playmaker and ball-handler — will be a boon to a legitimate title contender as someone who can fit with any lineup, spread the floor and lend some playmaking to a team that relied far too heavily on isolations in the playoffs last year.

Though he only played 28 games last season, Kennard was enjoying a career year before the injuries struck, averaging 15.8 points and 4.1 assists per game on .442/.399/.893 shooting splits. He’s a career 40.2 percent shooter from long range, and on a career-high 6.5 attempts per game last season, he still hovered around that same career mark.

It’s a no-brainer to say that a player’s health will determine the value of a new contract, but that’s especially true in Luke Kennard’s case, for a Clippers squad hoping to redeem itself after last season’s early playoff collapse. Los Angeles is doing what it needs to in order to retain talent and try to convince Kawhi Leonard — who can become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 — that this is a place where he can win titles. Having a healthy Kennard is a crucial step in convincing him to stay.