The addition of Luke Kennard by the Phoenix Suns this offseason has rightly been lauded as a smart piece of business. Yet, those expecting him to replicate what Grayson Allen did in The Valley are in for a rude awakening. That's setting everyone up for disappointment.
Kennard is not the athletic or defensive-minded wing Allen is
Although both have led the league in 3-point shooting across an entire season in the past (Allen's came during his first season with the franchise), that is where the similarities end. Kennard is nowhere near the kind of willing defender or athletic wing that Head Coach Jordan Ott can put in different lineups.
Consider that last season, the Suns employed both Allen and Royce O'Neale as an effective strategy for defending Victor Wembanyama en route to a surprising pair of victories over the eventual NBA finalist San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, Kennard has been picked on so brutally in the past that he has been played off the court.
Kennard has zero secondary playmaking abilities, unlike Allen
Another area in which Allen has a clear edge over his replacement is being a secondary playmaker. There were times across the last couple of seasons when he took over some of these duties from Devin Booker, with the Suns having no recognized floor general in the starting lineup. In fact, Allen's 3.8 assists per game last season represented a career high.
Miles Bridges was brought to the organization to help in this area, while Dillon Brooks was recently named our best Sun of 2025-26 for a reason. Those two will take pressure off Kennard in this regard, as it would be unfair to expect Kennard to also help in this area when that has never been his game.
Fans who expect a like-for-like swap here (not to mention also taking some of the minutes vacated by Royce O'Neale) will be let down. The Lakers had no problem moving on from him, and although that was as much about money as anything else, he does look like the ideal teammate to have alongside Luka Doncic.
We're not saying this is going to get "traded by the deadline" bad, but the 21.7 minutes Kennard averaged last season represented the third-lowest mark of his career. Do not be surprised if he ends up going the way of Yuta Watanabe with this group and this signing is viewed as the letdown of the offseason.
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