Golden State Warriors: What to do with Kevon Looney
The Golden State Warriors will have to figure out soon whether or not Kevon Looney fits into their future plans.
Despite having a roster that is almost complete, the Golden State Warriors still have a few more decisions to make. They have to figure out what is going to happen with the backup center position and who they will sign to their final roster spot.
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The discussion of whether or not JaVale McGee will be brought back has been discussed at length already. At this point, the money has dried up in free agency and his only option might be to return to the Warriors for the veteran minimum, have a chance at another ring and hope that the process is kinder to him next season.
If he doesn’t return, the Warriors are going to have to look to all their young big men they have drafted in recent years and have a little bit of competition to see who earns that playing time. It’s likely not going to be many minutes, with small ball rotations and the fact McGee wasn’t playing many in the first place.
Still, someone is going to have to step up and provide some minutes behind Zaza Pachulia. Looking at the roster, the Warriors have Damian Jones, Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney that could all technically fill in and provide minutes behind.
However, Jones is more of a true center while Bell is going to be used in a more versatile role like Draymond Green. He’s going to get his shot at rim protector in rotations, but he isn’t going to have one role.
And thus, that leaves Looney. It’s hard to say whether or not the 2015 first-round pick has made much progress over his two years because of rare minutes. The team has decide if carrying him around because of the luxury tax is going to be worth it.
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He is under contract for this year and currently has a team option for next year. His contract is cheap enough if that another team looking for a young big man wanted to take a chance on him, it wouldn’t be completely out of the realm of possibility.
When Danny Leroux, the nba salary cap guru, joined Tim Kawakami on his podcast, he referenced the trade that involved the Los Angeles Clippers sending C.J. Wilcox to the Orlando Magic before last season. Wilcox ultimately would be waived before the end of the season, but it’s the type of deal a team with tight cap space and maybe not a defined role for him like the Warriors would make.
They could certainly just choose to keep him, but it wouldn’t make sense if they don’t see much for him with the team beyond this year. With no guaranteed deal next year, it could serve in their best interests to send him somewhere that might give him a chance to play some minutes.