Kevon Looney is walking into Los Angeles with a job description that looks simple enough: be useful, be steady, and give the Lakers real minutes behind Walker Kessler. That’s the shape of the roster right now, with Rob Pelinka and the front office not adding another big man beyond Looney and Kessler.
The temptation, of course, is to imagine something more. Looney has been putting in offseason work on his corner 3-point shot, and that alone is enough to get Lakers fans talking about a possible new wrinkle for a Luka Doncic-led offense. There’s even a clean little stat that feeds the dream: last season’s Lakers centers, Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, combined for just three 3-point attempts in more than 3000 minutes.
But Golden State has already seen this movie. More than once.
Looney has gone through these offseason shooting routines before, and he has also talked publicly about the idea of stretching the floor once the games start. Before the 2024-25 season, which ended up being his final year with the Warriors, he said he was taking 400-500 threes per day that summer and described the different plays where he might get those looks.
That doesn’t mean the Warriors ever believed the shot was really changing his game.
The broader truth is that Looney has never been a 3-point threat, and his volume actually shrank as his Warriors tenure went on. His high-water mark came in the 2020-21 season, when he went 4-of-17. After that, he took just eight total attempts over the next four seasons.
So if the Lakers are looking for Looney to reinvent himself, they’re probably chasing the wrong thing. What they need is the version that made him so valuable in Golden State: a dependable screener, a willing passer, a versatile defender and, above all, a rebounder.
That’s the player who mattered in the Warriors’ 2022 championship run and again the following season, when they lost to the Lakers in the second round. It’s also the standard Looney fell short of last year with the New Orleans Pelicans, when he appeared in only 21 games and spent much of the season out of the rotation.
Now the question is whether he can get back to that level with the Lakers. The 3-point shot can stay in the workout videos. What Los Angeles really needs is the old Looney back in the real games.
In Other News...
Warriors May Soon Learn If They Let Quinten Post Slip Away
Quinten Post is on the move after Memphis signed him to a three-year, $30 million offer sheet and Golden State chose not to match. For the Warriors, it leaves one more small but potentially revealing roster decision hanging in the background, especially with a young big now heading to a team that will be sorting through frontcourt minutes as training camp opens.
Post now heads into a crowded rotation battle behind Zach Edey and Isaiah Stewart, and the pressure is immediate because his new deal gives Memphis flexibility if he does not make a strong early impression. His role is still unsettled, and the first year will go a long way toward showing whether the Warriors were wise to pass or whether they may look back on this one as a player they let get away. [Read more 🡒]
Brandin Podziemski Just Lost Leverage In Warriors Extension Talks
Amen Thompsons new deal in Houston is already being felt beyond the Rockets, because it gives the Warriors another point of reference as they sort through Brandin Podziemskis rookie-extension situation. Golden State has reason to be deliberate here. The front office is balancing its payroll picture against the value Podziemski has shown, and that makes this one of those talks where timing can matter as much as talent.
Podziemski still has the kind of case that can push a young player toward a meaningful payday, but the Warriors may not be eager to meet that number now if they believe patience could help later. A team-friendly agreement would give both sides some security and keep him out of restricted free agency, yet no extension has been signed, and this has the feel of a negotiation where leverage can shift quickly depending on what the market says next. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen Currys Warriors Future Is Still Part Of A Bigger NBA Debate
The NBAs long-view free agency chatter already has a familiar name in the middle of it, even if the conversation is really centered elsewhere. USA Todays Lorenzo Reyes recently took a look at the class of potential unrestricted free agents in 2027 and put Stephen Curry near the top of the list, a reminder of how much star power still shapes any discussion about the leagues future, even when the present is still very much in motion.
Golden States perspective on Curry remains straightforward, because the Warriors have spent his entire career as the face of the franchise and there is little reason to think that changes quickly. Reyes broader point was more about how much of this is still speculation, with Kawhi Leonards situation drawing its own attention and Currys future still tied to a team that has every expectation of keeping him around. [Read more 🡒]