The Pelicans are moving on from Kevon Looney, and the veteran center still appears to have a line of suitors.
New Orleans is declining Looney’s team option this summer, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes on Sunday. The move will clear roughly $8 million in salary cap space for the coming year, and it closes the book on a season that never really got off the ground.
Looney arrived in New Orleans last offseason with plenty of optimism around the signing. A three-time NBA champion was supposed to bring steadiness, toughness and rebounding to a team that needed help in the middle. Instead, his lone year with the Pelicans turned into a mess.
A lingering knee injury kept him out for the first week and a half of the season. When he finally got on the floor, he never settled in.
Looney appeared in only 21 games, putting up 2.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per night. After the All-Star break, he played just four more times before it became clear his run in New Orleans was nearing its end.
Even with that rough finish, Looney’s market hasn’t disappeared.
Marc Stein reported that the Celtics are among the teams with interest in the 30-year-old center. "It's believed that Looney is also on Boston's list of center targets, which is likewise known to feature former Celtics big man Robert Williams III," The Stein Line reports.
Boston has obvious reasons to be looking. The Celtics currently have just two centers under contract, with Neemias Queta’s $2.6 million team option and Luka Garza as the only frontcourt pieces on the books. Boston did trade for Nikola Vucevic before the deadline, but he was on an expiring deal and is now a free agent.
The Knicks are also being mentioned as a possible landing spot. They just won the NBA title, but they’re facing some tricky offseason math. James Dolan is rumored to be unwilling to pay into the second apron, which would make bringing back backup center Mitchell Robinson close to impossible.
According to Spotrac, New York is about $16 million away from that second apron, and Robinson made nearly $13 million last season. That makes a cheaper veteran center an obvious need, especially with Robinson expected to leave in free agency.
A report also noted that Knicks coach Mike Brown has a pre-existing relationship with Looney thanks to their time together in Golden State.
New York’s frontcourt picture is thin in a different way, and the Pelicans aren’t in much better shape. Once Looney is off the books, Yves Missi is the only true center left on the roster. New Orleans did pick up the option on Karlo Matkovic last week, but the team still has to add a center through trade or free agency this summer.
That need is made even more obvious by the shape of the Pelicans’ front line. Zion Williamson and Derik Queen form one of the smallest and most defensively deficient frontcourts in the league.
Last summer, New Orleans believed Looney could help steady a young roster searching for direction. The fit never clicked, but the issues that prompted the signing are still there. The Pelicans still need size, rebounding and a reliable presence in the middle, and this offseason gives them another chance to fix it.
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