The Los Angeles Lakers are looking at a veteran big man who checks a lot of boxes, including one that is uniquely LA. Kevon Looney is on the Lakers’ radar in free agency, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, and the fit makes sense on paper for both sides.
Looney is 30, has three NBA championship rings, and played his one year of college basketball at UCLA in 2014-15. A return to Los Angeles would basically be a homecoming for him. The Lakers just need a backup center to sit behind newly acquired seven-footer Walker Kessler, and Looney is exactly the kind of unglamorous, dependable rotation piece that fills that role.
The other name Stein mentioned as a Lakers target is former top-five pick Jonas Valanciunas. Both would give the Lakers a real body behind Kessler, but Looney is more interesting because of his championship pedigree and specific skill set. Valanciunas is a scorer. Looney is a hustle player, and hustle players tend to age better in support roles.
Looney spent a decade with the Golden State Warriors from 2015 to 2025 and became a cult hero in the Bay for his rebounding and his willingness to do whatever the coaching staff asked. He is only 6-foot-9, which is undersized for a modern center, but he made himself invaluable in multiple playoff runs by simply outworking bigger opponents on the boards. Warriors fans love him for good reason.
Last summer, Looney finally left Golden State and signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. That did not go well. He fell out of the rotation almost immediately for a lowly Pelicans team, averaging just 2.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 14.7 minutes across 21 appearances. Some of that was scheme fit. Some was health. Either way, his market this offseason is going to be significantly cheaper than it would have been the year before.
That is the opportunity for the Lakers. Looney can probably be had on a minimum or near-minimum deal for a team offering a real role and a serious title window. Los Angeles suddenly qualifies as that team after landing Kessler. If Looney comes home, he gets a legitimate playoff runway and a chance to add hardware to a career that already has plenty.
The Lakers have been thin at center for years, so adding real depth behind Kessler is a real priority. The team traded Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards this offseason and let Jaxson Hayes walk to the Utah Jazz. That leaves Kessler as the only true five on the roster. Any injury to Kessler without a proper backup would sink Los Angeles almost immediately.
Looney solves that problem for a fraction of what a starting caliber center would cost. He also brings championship habits that a Lakers team pivoting to a new era needs. LeBron James is no longer around to set the professional standard. Someone has to fill that void in the locker room, and three-time champions tend to be good at that job.
The homecoming angle is nice, but the basketball fit is what makes this move worth pursuing. A rotation of Kessler and Looney at the five spot would be a real luxury for LA, and Looney has been through enough playoff basketball to know what winning looks like. This is the kind of quiet signing that shows up in April.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
