The Atlanta Hawks signed Luke Kennard to a one-year, $11 million contract over the 2025 offseason. He spent over two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies before moving to Atlanta. He improved his playmaking and ball-handling abilities, becoming a point guard option whenever Memphis needed him. However, Kennard’s biggest strength lies in being a lethal catch-and-shoot 3-point threat. In fact, he ranks third all-time with a career 43.8% efficiency mark from deep.
Atlanta needs Kennard’s spacing and playmaking to successfully run its offense when the starters head to the bench. He was not aggressive enough over the first two months of the 2025-26 campaign, but the Hawks guard may have found his rhythm over the last week.
Hawks Bench Guard Finding His Groove After Rough Start
Luke Kennard’s Passive Start in Atlanta
Kennard averages 7.2 points in 20.3 minutes per game, but the more concerning pattern lies in his 3-point volume. The 29-year-old takes 3.1 3-pointers per contest but hits them at an impressive 43.4% clip. Over the first 33 games of the campaign, his attempts from downtown dropped below three per game. Kennard often pump-faked a makable triple to beat his man off the dribble, but when he drove into the paint, he looked to pass first. Simply put, he did not shoot enough from beyond the arc.
The 12th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft is not a defensive stopper on the perimeter. As a result, he must be productive on offense. Atlanta’s head coach, Quin Snyder, benched Kennard on Dec. 26 against the Miami Heat after a string of poor performances. His role looked like it might be in jeopardy when he started the season as the locked-in eighth man in the rotation.
Kennard Turns Up the Aggression Over the Last 3 Games
Kennard only played five minutes against the New York Knicks on Dec. 27. However, he bounced back with one of his best games of the campaign against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first-ranked defense, scoring 12 points with five assists and four rebounds. Kennard shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and mixed in a healthy diet of orchestrating the Hawks’ fast-paced, motion offense. This performance set off a chain reaction of three straight great games from the former Duke University product.
Kennard has averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 4.3 rebounds over his past three games. After the Hawks blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves on New Year’s Eve, he gave a candid response to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Lauren Williams.
“I’ve had some good moments, good games, but nowhere near what I can be and what I expect of myself. They’ve been on me, my teammates & coaches, just to be aggressive and shoot the ball when I can,” he said.
Atlanta took down the Timberwolves and Knicks to begin 2026 with a 2-0 record after a brutal seven-game losing streak. Kennard’s more aggressive, “let it fly” mentality is a big reason for the Hawks’ bench winning the reserve battle in both contests. However, Atlanta ruled out Kennard for its Jan. 3 battle against the Toronto Raptors due to back soreness. The Hawks hope their sharpshooter starts right where he left off when he returns from injury.
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