NBA Trade Season Opens, but Kevon Looney’s Fit in New Orleans Remains a Question Mark
December 15 marks a key date on the NBA calendar - the unofficial start of trade season. It’s the day when the majority of players who signed free-agent deals over the summer become eligible to be traded.
For front offices around the league, it’s the green light to explore roster shakeups ahead of the February deadline. For the New Orleans Pelicans, though, this date feels less like an opportunity and more like a reality check - especially when it comes to Kevon Looney.
Looney, the lone free-agent addition by the Pelicans this past offseason, is now officially trade-eligible. But here’s the catch: there’s little to no market for him right now. That’s not just speculation - it’s a reflection of how his season has played out so far.
Through the team’s first 27 games, Looney has suited up for only 12. His production has been underwhelming, averaging just 2.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. For a player who built his reputation on efficiency, toughness, and doing the little things that don’t always show up in the box score, this level of output is hard to overlook.
The physical decline we started to see during his final year with Golden State seems to have carried over to New Orleans. The mobility isn’t quite there.
The timing on rebounds and defensive rotations - once his calling card - looks a step slow. The regression is real, and it’s showing up on both ends of the floor.
When the Pelicans brought Looney in, the idea wasn’t that he’d be a star - it was that he’d be a stabilizer. A veteran center who didn’t need touches, could set hard screens, crash the glass, and provide a steady defensive presence alongside Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III.
The fit, at least on paper, made a lot of sense. But what’s on paper hasn’t translated to the court.
The other big selling point was Looney’s championship pedigree. With multiple titles under his belt from his time with the Warriors, he was expected to bring leadership and a winning mindset to a young Pelicans locker room.
But so far, that leadership role seems to have been filled by someone else - DeAndre Jordan. Jordan, who’s stepped into more of a guiding presence for the team’s younger players, appears to be the veteran voice this group is rallying around.
Now, it’s possible Looney is still playing that role behind the scenes - leadership doesn’t always show up on camera or in the box score. But based on what we see during games, in huddles, and on the bench, it’s Jordan who’s setting the tone.
So where does that leave the Pelicans? Barring a surprise trade, they’re likely riding out the rest of the season with Looney on the roster.
The good news - if there is one in this situation - is that the team structured his deal with a team option for the second year. That gives New Orleans flexibility to move on in the 2026 offseason without any long-term financial commitment.
In the grand scheme of things, this was a low-risk move that hasn’t paid off. And while the Pelicans have bigger priorities as they look to stay competitive in the loaded Western Conference, the Looney experiment serves as a reminder: even the most logical signings on paper can miss the mark when the games start counting.