The Growth Of Kevon Looney

For the past eight years, Kevon Looney has been used to his star teammates getting the headlines. While that still holds true, Looney’s performance both during the regular season, and now in the 2023 postseason, has begun earning him some recognition.

At 6’9, Looney was always viewed as a bit of an undersized center. Yet, in recent years his hustle, and ability to outwork opponents on the glass, has made that viewpoint irrelevant.

During the regular season, the 27-year-old grabbed 9.3 rebounds per game in just 23.9 minutes. In the playoffs, head coach Steve Kerr has upped Looney’s minutes to 30.0 per night, and the center has responded with a league-leading average of 16.1 rebounds per game.

Looney has grabbed 20 or more rebounds a mesmerizing four times during his eight postseason appearances this year, including five games of five or more offensive rebounds, securing Golden State additional offensive possessions – something that any defense would like to limit.

Rebounding, however, isn’t the only area the two-time champion has improved.

Looney has also become a bit of a dime-dropper, racking up a surprising amount of assists over the course of the year, by functioning as a connective piece both on the perimeter, and in short roll action.

In the regular season, Looney registered 2.5 assists per game, which doesn’t seem like much until you remember he played literally less than a half per game. Here, in the postseason, Looney is up to 4.4 per game.

Looney’s passing isn’t generated the same way as most high-assist players. He’s not breaking down defenses off the dribble, and passing off to open guys.

Instead, Looney finds himself on the perimeter a lot, engaging in dribble-hand-offs to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole. He’ll also set a pick, get the ball in the middle of the paint, and spot guys like Andrew Wiggins or Donte DiVincenzo in the corners, not dissimilar to how teammate Draymond Green has gathered a fair chunk of his assists over the years.

Looney’s passing is rooted in fundamental basketball. He’ll rarely attempt high-risk passes, as his 0.5 turnover rate in the regular season will reflect. He’s careful and observant, but when he spots an angle he likes, he won’t think twice, before moving the ball.

Defensively, Looney has overall been decent for a while now, contesting well under the rim, and keeping fairly underrated at that aspect of the game. This year, he seems to have grown even more, seemingly having improved his timing on defensive rotations, and impressively having become even more disciplined in not sacrificing his own positioning for the sake of shot-blocking.

Looney’s frame, which has grown bigger than the 222-pound measurement he’s had for years, is good enough to deter most ball-handlers, even if he isn’t a threat to block their shot. They’ve gone up against him for years and knows he’ll plant his feet, and hold his ground, making any shot attempt a difficult one.

Looney’s improvements are bound to earn him a raise on his next contract, but the Warriors have him locked up for another two seasons before he’s up for one. In the meantime, Looney will be one of the league’s biggest bargains at $8.5 million next year, and $9 million the following season.

Interestingly, the Warriors shave off a million in both years, if they fail to make the NBA Finals in 2023 and 2024. Looney’s contract includes an annual $1 million incentive of making the Finals, which he fulfilled last season.

For Looney and his agent, it’s almost a shame he isn’t an unrestricted free agent sooner. If he were to hit the open market this summer, for example, he’d easily look at an amount double of the $7.5 million he’s currently earning this year.

For a Warriors team that always seems to push the envelope on roster spending, however, there’s no way Looney’s bargain contract is going to slip through their fingers.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.