Warriors: Kevon Looney’s career-best season may save starter status

The Golden State Warriors signed Kevon Looney after his phenomenal 2019 postseason. Looney is one of a handful of players on the team that’s not on a minimum-value contract. He’s in the last year of a 3-year, $15 million deal.

While Looney’s future may be unknown, he should remain as a starter for the foreseeable, and that should still be true even when second-year rookie center James Wiseman returns to full strength.

Kevon Looney has been terrific for the Golden State Warriors, and he should remain as a starter due to his strong play this season.

Looney stands just 6-foot-9 but plays much larger than that. His width also helps Looney set terrific screens, and at the same time, his ability to shift horizontally has aided his ability to defend smaller guards.

Looney’s play when switched onto James Harden back in 2019 seemed like a large part of why the Warriors wanted to keep him in their long-term plans.

However, the past few seasons, Looney has been battling injuries and struggling to find his footing within the organization. This season has been completely different though. Looney is averaging 6.3 points per game which are tied for most of his career.

His 7.6 rebounds per game dwarf his previous career-high of just 5.3 per game. Another key aspect of Looney’s game has been his ability to attack the offensive glass, where he’s averaging a career-high offensive 2.8 rebounds per game.

Looney knows his role in the offense, and that’s exactly what Golden State has asked him to master.

For Golden State, Looney should be the starting center for at least the end of the season. The Warriors seemingly forced rookie Wiseman into the starting lineup last year, and while getting him those minutes might have helped then, the Warriors are in championship mode.

It’s not known what level of play Wiseman will return at. Will he being bulked up help immensely? Unless it does, he should come back and be behind Looney, who has been far better than anyone expected.

Wiseman, who is more of a scorer anyway, could also play in the second unit alongside Jordan Poole. Both faces of the franchise for the long-term future, the duo could grow and learn together which may give more long-term benefits anyway.