Former Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney has landed another NBA opportunity, signing a one-year, $3.9 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers according to ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday.
Looney joins the Lakers in the wake of the front office trading former number one overall pick Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards last week, but the franchise is about to learn that the 3x NBA champion may no longer be suited to a backup center role.
Lakers about to learn harsh Kevon Looney lesson Warriors already know
Golden State learned even before last offseason that Looney, despite his stature at the franchise and leadership value, was no longer an option to go forward with in a prominent role. They specifically targeted fellow veteran big man Al Horford as a replacement, signing the 5x All-Star away from the Boston Celtics and having since agreed to a new two-year deal with him in recent weeks.
The Warriors were comfortable letting Looney walk to the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year, $16 million deal in free agency last year -- a contract that instantly appeared overs and proved the case rather quickly.
The Lakers acquire one of the top available backup centers, and Looney, a three-time NBA champion, provides experience and pick-and-roll play for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves after all of those years running screens for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green… https://t.co/twwzvxFuGI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 7, 2026
Looney appeared in only 21 games for the Pelicans, racking up plenty of DNPs despite a fairly underwhelming center rotation. DeAndre Jordan even got playing time over him at times last season, and New Orleans chose to bring the 37-year-old back while declining Looney's $8 million team option for next season.
Lakers may be placing too much faith in Kevon Looney
Despite his lack of impact with the Pelicans last season and late in his tenure at the Warriors, the Lakers have signed Looney as their backup center after moving Ayton last week. Their biggest splash of free agency -- a massive sign-and-trade for Walker Kessler -- means Looney should only be in a limited role, but even there's concerns over whether this was the right move.
The biggest issue is that Kessler comes with some injury concerns after only appearing in five games with the Utah Jazz last season. What happens if he misses a week or two, perhaps a month and leaves 7'2"-sized hole at center at some point next season?
Even during his prime years with Golden State, Looney rarely played more than 30 minutes per game. He averages 17.1 minutes for his career and nothing we saw in New Orleans last season suggests he will be able to effectively fill in for Kessler if required.
Even if it comes in the Lakers purple and gold which will bring a strange look after a decade in the Bay, Warrior fans should be happy that Looney has extended his career into a 12th NBA season. Can he actually fill the role the Lakers are looking for? That's a question that remains unanswered and would require a turnaround from what we've seen in the past 18 months.
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