The Golden State Warriors love their reunions.
Andre Iguodala came back. Gary Payton II came back. And while fans are clamoring for a Klay Thompson return before the end, the more realistic one is with another longtime and beloved member of the dynasty Warriors: Kevon Looney.
The organization would almost certainly welcome Loon back onto the team, particularly on a prorated minimum deal for the rest of the season. There is one major problem, unfortunately: he has to be cut by his current team first.
Looney left the Warriors this past summer to sign a shockingly lucrative contract with the New Orleans Pelicans: two years, $16 million. That was light years ahead of what the Warriors or any other team was prepared to offer him. An all-around "good" player, Looney lacked the elite impact or youthful upside to make much more than the minimum.
The Pelicans thought otherwise, however, and gave him a big-time contract. He had no choice but to leave at that price tag. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, Looney has been solid in New Orleans -- but is powerless to prevent them from being one of the league's worst teams.
New Orleans may try to win down the strtch to save some face, as they owe their first-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons and thought they would be competing for a playoff berth, but they are at the very bottom of the standings and don't appear to have a way out of the basement. The final two months of the season will be about playing the young prospects on the team.
At the big man positions, that includes a trio of talented players: rookie Derik Queen, sophomore Yves Missi and the underrated Karlo Matkovic. Throw in two-way rookie center Hunter Dickinson and the frontcourt is positively loaded.
There is no reason for the Pelicans to play Looney over the rest of the season. They should and almost certainly will prioritize giving playing time to the young bigs. And with Looney's $8 million price tag for next season on a team option that the team will almost certainly decline, he may have already played his last meaningful minutes for the franchise.
Such a confluence of facts should make Looney an obvious buyout candidate. He can give a few million back to the Pelicans, sign a minimum deal with a playoff team, and provide solid, reliable depth at the center position for a team that needs rebounding and reliability from a bench big.
A Looney return makes a ton of sense
The Warriors are an obvious choice. He has deep familiarity with their system, they have a pair of aging bigs who need injury management in Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, and he won't complain about a lack of playing time -- he never did even when he deserved it.
Everyone would love for such a reunion to take place -- but it cannot until the Pelicans waive Looney. To this point, however, they have given no indication that they will do that. And so the waiting game commences. If Looney is not waived by March 1, he will not be eligible for the playoffs, and his value to winning teams plummets.
The Warriors would love to bring back Looney. Looney would probably love to return to the Warriors. But they need the New Orleans front office to play ball.