After making several additions to their roster in free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers remained in active pursuit of a big man. Despite missing out on several key targets in the market, the Purple and Gold appear to have hit the mark after signing three-time NBA champion Kevon Looney on a minimum deal.
Kevon Looney‘s addition is a vital one for the Lakers. With the departure of Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, the Purple and Gold were in dire need of a backup big man behind Walker Kessler. Although this move is promising in every sense, Lakers insider Jovan Buha shared some vital insight on it during a recent episode of “Buha’s Block.”
“Once the Lakers got off Deandre Ayton, it was unlikely they were going to get a backup five on his level. It was even unrealistic, I would say, that they were going to get a backup five on like Jaxson Hayes’s level. So, in general, I think it was going to be somewhat underwhelming whoever the Lakers ended up nabbing,” Buha began.
Buha had dramatically low expectations for any player being brought in as the Lakers’ backup center. However, with specific reference to Kevon Looney, Buha seemed more optimistic, as he stated:
“For Looney, I think it’s about as realistically good as it gets based on the minimum market, which is again, an incredibly low bar… I feel like just looking at his frame and the way he plays, he plays far closer to a guy who’s like 250 lbs than a guy who’s 222 lbs.”
“This is going to be his 12th season out of UCLA. He played in Golden State for 10 out of 11 seasons. Won three championships there… He has the pedigree, has been a starter on a championship team, played prominent minutes and roles on championship teams, and deep playoff teams. So, he is as battle-tested and experienced as it realistically gets among the current options.”
As Buha mentioned, although Looney doesn’t bring much to the table as a lob threat, he is one of the most experienced centers on the market. When also factoring in his championship pedigree and cultivated IQ from playing alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, it can be argued that he is among the best screen-setting centers in the league.
“When you think of Kevon Looney, you think of think of motor, you think of physicality, you think of toughness, and you think of basketball IQ. He excels in all of those facets. He plays extremely hard. He’s extremely physical,” Buha added.
As a veteran leader, Looney ticks the right boxes with his toughness and communication. But it goes without saying that there are some drawbacks, too.
“Weaknesses with Kevon Looney – incredibly limited finisher. If you look at his finishing, it has been trending downwards for multiple years in a row… He is not a lob threat. He is not even really a threat for a dump-off pass into a dunk. He is barely jumping and often using his center of gravity, his strength, and his base to clear guys out for offensive rebounds.”
Athleticism was bound to be an issue with Kevon Looney. Buha even mentioned that Looney only dunked once in the 2025-26 season (21 games). For a center, this is concerning. Additionally, when highlighting how his FG% has decreased over the past few seasons (41.7% shooting from the field last season), issues about his finishing are worth noting.
Buha proceeded to summarize the addition by comparing him to Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes, stating:
“Realistically, this is a downgrade, but he does do some things better. Like, he’s a better screen setter than both Ayton and Jaxson. He’s a better rebounder than both Ayton and Jaxson. Defensively, I would say he doesn’t have the mobility of either one of those guys, but might actually be just a straight-up better rim protector than either of these guys.”
“I do not think Kevon Looney is a rotation player against Oklahoma City or San Antonio or New York at the highest levels,” he continued. “So if the Lakers get to round two, Lakers get to round three, Lakers get to the Finals, and they’re playing one of those three teams. I do not think he’s a player who can play in that type of series.”
“Is he good enough for a 12-to-15-minute-a-night backup role? Sure. Is he good enough for anything more than that in the regular season? I would say no. Is he good enough for that in the playoffs? I would also say no.”
Buha’s review of Kevon Looney may seem extremely harsh, but there is some validity to it.
Despite his experience and his value as a rebounding big man in the rotation, Looney brings very little to the table offensively. Last season, the 30-year-old averaged 2.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
Although this could be viewed as an outlier, especially since the Pelicans boasted a young big man rotation of Derik Queen and Yves Missi, Looney has never been a solid scoring option. Now, with injuries also eating away at his explosiveness, the three-time champion has also seen a dip in his rebounding ability.
On a minimum contract, adding a player like Looney can still be considered worthwhile. Given the lack of genuine big men in the lineup, adding a battle-hardened veteran to support Walker Kessler still has promise. Still, when forecasting the Lakers’ rotations, it is more likely that a player like Sandro Mamukelashvili will play more minutes at center than Looney during the regular season.
For all intents and purposes, this sets the Purple and Gold up to make some moves with the remaining $9.9 million of cap space at their disposal. Rumors have currently linked them to Jonathan Kuminga, but it may be more advisable to acquire an athletic big man like Nick Richards to round out the rotation.
