The clock is ticking. Questions keep coming. Klay Thompson is slated to become an unrestricted free agency in less than three weeks, casting doubt on his future with the Warriors.
Thompson spent his entire 13-year career with the Warriors, including two seasons missed due to separate leg injuries, and became 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 switch teams.
Klay, however, is not the only member of the Warriors’ core from several titles whose time with the team may be coming to an end.
Kevon Looney encountered a stumbling bump in his eighth NBA season, a year after having his greatest season yet. He is doing everything in his power to ensure that it was an obstacle rather than a dead end. Looney also understands that he does not have complete control over what happens next.
After Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals, the Warriors’ center joined his longtime colleague Draymond Green on the “Draymond Green Show” to discuss the Boston Celtics’ victory over the Dallas Mavericks and other memories from their nearly decade together in Golden State. Green’s final question to Looney was not about looking back, but about what lies ahead for him and the Warriors.
“The ball isn’t in my court,” Looney explained. “I don’t have complete control over my fate, so I have to wait and control what I can. I’ve been here my entire career. I don’t know anything else. You always want to finish what you began and stay somewhere for your entire career, but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that’s not possible. I’m bracing myself for whatever. My family is out here, and the Bay has been kind to me. They regard me like family; I grew up here.
“I haven’t given it much thought thus far. I’m waiting to see what they’re going to do first before pushing the envelope and doing what I want.”
Looney, 28, signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract as a free agent in 2022 to remain with the Warriors after winning his third championship and playing all 82 games for the first time in his career. The next third and final year of Looney’s contract included a critical detail: only $3 million of the $8 million on his 2024-25 contract is guaranteed.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob desperately wants to cut costs from an extremely expensive roster that failed to make the playoffs. Waiving Looney is a simple way to do so.
The first year of Looney’s contract appeared to be one of the offseason’s best values. Looney started 70 of 82 games and finished sixth in the Most Improved Player vote, averaging 7.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 23.9 minutes per game. “MVP” cries during the Warriors’ 2022 championship run were like memories from another universe this season, as Looney labored.
Leave a Reply