Kennard will be a non-Bird free agent, but there are …

Luke Kennard is playing on an expiring $11 million contract after arriving in a February trade from Atlanta in what was initially billed as the low-cost rental of a shooter for the rest of this season. More and more, though, I'm hearing rival team strategists project Kennard to be part of the Lakers' future plans. Kennard will be a non-Bird free agent, but there are multiple pathways that the Lakers could explore to keep him in the fold in a nod to the role he has earned in purple and gold under fellow Duke alumnus JJ Redick .