The clock is ticking. The questions keep coming and coming. Klay Thompson in less than three weeks will become an unrestricted free agent, which will put his Warriors’ future in considerable uncertainty.
Thompson has played his entire 13-year career for the Warriors, including the two seasons he missed due to separate leg injuries, becoming a franchise legend with four championship rings along the way. He would be the first of the Warriors’ Big Three (Thompson, Steph Curry and Draymond Green) to change teams.
But Klay isn’t the only member of the Warriors’ multi-title core whose days as part of the team could soon be over.
Kevon Looney hit a roadblock in his ninth NBA season, a year after the best of his career. He is doing everything in his power to make sure it is an obstacle and not a dead end. Looney also knows that what comes next isn’t entirely up to him.
The Warriors center joined teammate Draymond Green after Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals on the “Draymond Green Show” to talk about the Boston Celtics‘ win against the Dallas Mavericks and different stories during their almost decade together in Golden State. The last question Green asked Looney wasn’t about looking back, but about what’s next for him and the Warriors.
“The ball is not in my court,” Looney said. “I don’t have complete control over my destiny, so I have to play the waiting game, control what I can control. I’ve been here my whole life.” career. I don’t know anything else. You always want to finish what you started and be somewhere for your entire career, but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that’s not realistic. My family is here, the Bay has been great to me. They treat me like family, I grew up here.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much. I’m trying to see what they’re going to do first before I go further and see what I want to do.”
Looney, 28, signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract as a free agent in 2022 to remain a Warrior after winning his third ring and playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career. The upcoming third and final year of Looney’s contract came with a very important detail: Only $3 million of the $8 million of his 2024-25 contract is guaranteed.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob desperately wants to get rid of money from an incredibly expensive roster that failed to make the playoffs. Giving up Looney is an easy way to do it.
The first year of Looney’s contract looked like one of the steals of the offseason. Looney again played in all 82 games, starting 70, and finished eighth in Most Improved Player voting after averaging 7.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 23.9 minutes per game. The “MVP” chants during the Warriors’ 2022 championship run seemed like memories from a world away last season as Looney struggled.
His streak of consecutive games played ended at 290. Looney lost his starting job to rookie second-round pick Trayce Jackson-Davis and received a DNP (Did Not Play) in eight of the Warriors’ last 21 games. This isn’t the first time Looney has faced adversity in his NBA career either, far from it.
“Right now I’m just focusing on my game,” Looney told Green. “The end of the season didn’t end in the best way for me, but I’m proud of adapting and figuring things out.”
Therein lies the respect Looney has earned over the years within the Warriors locker room. No jealousy. No animosity. Continue leading by example.
Looney, like everyone else, is watching the lob threat posed by Mavs centers Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively III. He’s watching the Celtics play five-out basketball with big men like Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Looney isn’t about to grow to 7 feet, he’s not going to start dunking, and the 3-point line isn’t about to become his second home.
Although he is willing to evolve, for the team and for himself.
When the Warriors drafted Looney as a 19-year-old late in the first round in 2015, they didn’t know if he would become a 3 or a 4. After multiple hip surgeries, Looney fended off his incoming competition and became one. of the most exclusive, reliable and efficient centers in the league. He has also made a total of three 3-point attempts in the last three seasons (one each year) and missed all three.
In his exit interview press conference, Looney said he wants to be more offensive-minded, which may mean being a deep option. A goal of 35 or 36 percent from beyond the arc is something he stated almost two months ago. Since then, Looney has clearly taken his words to heart.
“I have a new goal, that’s my new plan,” Looney said. “I have to be able to adapt, so I’m looking forward to it: improving my game, adapting to this new NBA and finding out. I’ve been working hard and I feel like next year I’ll be a different player. That’s always the goal.
“I feel like I conquered my old role, so now I have to discover my new role and take the next step. That’s what I’ve been focusing on. “I’m trying to focus on my game and usually when you focus on your game and put in the effort, things always work out for me.”
Thompson is not alone, and neither is Looney. The Warriors will undergo changes this offseason. They have to. Looney himself is already making changes to his own game and mentality, knowing that whether he’s a Warrior or a salary cap victim, the three-time champion is setting himself up for success as he enters the unknown.
“The ball is not in my court,” he reiterated. “I’ve been a Warrior for life. No matter what happens, I’ll always be a Warrior for life. I’m really just waiting to see how our organization goes.” do.”
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