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."
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."
19 days ago
