The Los Angeles Lakers overhauled their roster in the summer, and center Kevon Looney was one of the many new faces they brought in. Looney was set to be the backup to fellow new arrival Walker Kessler, but the Lakers have quickly realized he isn’t up to the task, according to The Athletic’s Dan Woike.
“This team really can’t afford to lose Kessler for any extended amount of time,” Woike said. “The Lakers have already decided that Kevon Looney isn’t a workable backup center, and they have limited trade assets to address that (at a time when supply for backup centers is low and demand around the league outside of the Lakers is high).”
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The Lakers gave up two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Utah Jazz for Kessler and don’t have much draft capital left now. They can offer a 2032 first-round pick swap and three second-round picks in trades, and that might not be enough to get a quality backup big in this current market.
The Lakers just have to hope that the Kessler, who has had a fine start to the season, stays upright. Now, all of the Lakers’ new arrivals haven’t hit the ground running the way he has, but Looney is the only one whose acquisition looks like a clear mistake at this point. The only positive you can point to is that the 30-year-old was given only a one-year, $3.9 million deal.
Looney played in each of the Lakers’ first four games, and it appears head coach JJ Redick saw enough in them to take him out of the rotation entirely. The three-time NBA champion has featured in only two of their last nine games and didn’t even play a combined five minutes in them.
The Lakers have resorted to playing Jarred Vanderbilt and new arrival Sandro Mamukelashvili at center when Kessler sits. They have done fairly well so far, but you wouldn’t want either of them starting should Kessler go down. This is a bit of a problem for a team that has gotten off to an excellent 11-2 start to the season.
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Now, it’s not as if no one saw this coming from Looney, who is averaging 1.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game in 2026-27. He looked like a shell of himself with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2025-26.
The Pelicans had signed Looney to a two-year, $16 million deal in 2025, and it would be an understatement to say he didn’t live up to expectations. He averaged 2.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26.
Looney only played 21 games for the Pelicans last season, and while injuries played a part, he was also taken out of the rotation simply because he wasn’t playing well. It wasn’t a surprise then that they declined the $8 million team option for 2026-27 and let him hit free agency.
The Lakers still signed Looney, and they were warned before the season that relying on him to be the backup center could quickly backfire. It very quickly got to the point where they decided they could not rely on him.
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The issues with Looney are that he isn’t really a rim protector and isn’t mobile enough now to defend on the perimeter. He is not the kind of rim-runner that Luka Doncic wants on offense either.
You do wonder what the Lakers thought they were getting when they signed Looney. Now, he does bring championship experience to a roster that doesn’t have any. Looney has won three titles with the Golden State Warriors, and no one else on that roster has even won one. That experience could help this group, but that’s about it.
The Lakers will take on the 5-6 Phoenix Suns next at Mortgage Matchup Center on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. Unless it’s a blowout, don’t expect to see Looney out on the court.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
