Insider on why Kevon Looney is joining the Lakers

[ASFN Admin]

Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers seemingly struck gold when they agreed to send two future first-round draft picks and two pick swaps to the Utah Jazz for 24-year-old, 7-foot-2 Walker Kessler, one of the best defensive centers in the NBA. They had been linked to Kessler for a couple of years, and he is now officially a member of their roster, which fulfills the biggest item on their offseason wish list.

But with backup center Jaxson Hayes' departure and the trade that sent Deandre Ayton, their starting center this past season, to the Washington Wizards, the Lakers needed a serviceable backup center. To that end, they got Kevon Looney to agree to a veteran minimum deal with them.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Looney chose the Lakers because the 30-year-old feels some of the offensive sets they plan to run resemble the ones the Golden State Warriors ran to spring Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry loose.

“They needed a backup center, right?” McMenamin said. “He had some opportunities around the league. I spoke to someone close to him today who said that he saw it as a clear opportunity. He saw a parallel between some of the half-court sets that they’re going to run, the way he can free up Luka [Doncic] and AR (Austin Reaves) the same way he freed up Klay and Steph with screens -- multi-time champion.

“And then let's talk off the court. He’s a UCLA guy. He spends the offseasons in L.A. He’s getting married this weekend to his bride, who is also a hooper at Cal State. So it’s a happy time for the Looney family, and I’ve spent some time around Kevon — he’s a good guy to have among this group as a veteran leader as well.”

Looney, who was the No. 30 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, spent his first 10 seasons in the league with the Warriors and won three championships with them. He has always been a high-motor center who grabs rebounds in bunches on both the defensive and offensive boards, and he's regarded as a good defender who will also set screens.

He has a career average of 5.7 rebounds in 17.1 minutes a game. This past season, the Lakers were 12th in overall rebounding percentage and defensive rebounding percentage, but just 24th in offensive rebounding percentage and 28th in second-chance points.

During the 2026 playoffs, they were consistently beaten on the boards, even during their first-round victory over the Houston Rockets. The additions of Looney and Kessler should help in that regard, and Looney could end up doing some of the dirty work that leads to easier offensive opportunities for Doncic and Reaves, among others.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Insider on why Kevon Looney is joining the Lakers

Continue reading...