Golden State Warriors: Kevon Looney has earned a starting spot

The Golden State Warriors re-signed Kevon Looney on a very team-friendly deal. That said, the young big has earned the team’s starting center role.

Three starting roles for the Golden State Warriors opening game in the 2019-2020 season are locked in. Those are point guard, shooting guard and power forward. We already dove into why Glenn Robinson III should get the nod at the three.

However, as for the starting center, that should be Kevon Looney, not the recently added Willie Cauley-Stein. Looney was arguably the postseason’s biggest winner, although his team didn’t come out on top.

The fourth-year center had numerous games where he was easily a top-4 player for Golden State. Looney was collecting seemingly every offensive board and playing outstanding defense when switched onto players like James Harden and Chris Paul.

He was also highly effective, a staple of Looney’s game. During the regular season, Looney shot 62.5% from the field and collected 2.4 offensive boards per game. In the postseason, Looney was up to 68.8% from the field and 2.0 offensive boards per game.

Those are far from elite, but for $5 million a year, they’re good enough.

Looney was expected to get a better offer from the Houston Rockets or another contending team filled with superstars; however, he’s staying in the Bay to continue to perfectly complement Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Ultimately, Looney would bring a more efficient scorer and just an overall better fit to the starting lineup. Given how Steve Kerr will likely stagger the minutes of Curry and D’Angelo Russell, there shouldn’t be too much thought given to the starting center.

Both Cauley-Stein and Looney will be getting significant minutes. While similar, the two player marginally different games with Looney being a better defender while Cauley-Stein is a better offensive target, averaging over 10 points per game the last two seasons.

The better volume scorer, Cauley-Stein would thrive with the ball in his hands a bit more. He’d get that on the second unit. With Looney’s comfort and IQ with Draymond Green and Curry on the court, he should get the nod.

Every game will be important, and while they’ll both get minutes, the decision of who to start and who gets late-game minutes could win or lose multiple games for Kerr’s Warriors.