Luke Kennard agrees to four-year, $64M extension with Clippers

The Clippers and guard Luke Kennard have reached an agreement on a four-year, $64M rookie scale contract extension, agents Aaron Mintz and Dave Spahn tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal includes $56M in guaranteed money, plus $8M in additional bonuses that are considered attainable, tweets Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.

It’s an impressive number for Kennard, who missed much of the 2019-20 season due to knee issues. He played well when healthy, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.1 APG and 3.5 RPG with a .442/.399/.893 shooting line in 28 games (32.9 MPG).

The Pistons’ new front office sent Kennard to Los Angeles in a three-team offseason trade that saw Saddiq Bey and Rodney McGruder land in Detroit. The 24-year-old’s asking price on an extension – along with his injury history and the team’s change in direction – played a part in Detroit’s decision to move him, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

The Clippers’ investment in Kennard suggests his new club has confidence that his knee problems are behind him. If he earns the full $16M per year on his new deal, that would put Kennard in the same neighborhood of recent free agent signees like Davis Bertans ($16M per year), Marcus Morris ($16M) and Malik Beasley ($15M).

New contracts for Morris, Paul George and now Kennard have pushed the Clippers well over the projected cap and likely into luxury tax territory for the 2021-22 season, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).