Kevon Looney is not an NBA caliber player

[Mylie10]

Also, Zaza injurs guys....sometimes his own guys. Durant stepped on his foot the other night and I cringed.

[Phase 3]

I think David West can do anything Zaza does. But no one can do what Javale does. I mean Bell brings some of the shot blocking Javale does, but I like Bell being the versatile defender like Draymond.

I guess my main point is this. The combo of West, Javale, Bell, and Looney can cover for anything Zaza brings. So it allows us to have a better understanding of our future. We need to get younger and Zaza and West are kind of in the way of that process, but I just love West.

Some time soon, Myers is gonna need to make some decisions when it comes to the 5 position. They have Zaza, Mcgee, West, Bell, Looney, and Jones all that position...with Looney and Damian Jones having player options that need to be decided on. They have a logjam. IMO Myers is gonna try to determine if any of those guys can be the starting center of the future. I don’t think Kerr wants to start Mcgee...or he would have already done that. Looney is not a starting center type guy. Damian Jones is incredibly raw...I don’t know what his future holds. That leaves Bell as the primary candidate on this current roster to take over that role. Unless, of course, the Warriors make a trade for a guy they think can be their starting center. Maybe Myers tries to package a few young players/pieces for a guy they like in that role.

[azwfan]

I think David West can do anything Zaza does. But no one can do what Javale does. I mean Bell brings some of the shot blocking Javale does, but I like Bell being the versatile defender like Draymond.

I guess my main point is this. The combo of West, Javale, Bell, and Looney can cover for anything Zaza brings. So it allows us to have a better understanding of our future. We need to get younger and Zaza and West are kind of in the way of that process, but I just love West.

Some time soon, Myers is gonna need to make some decisions when it comes to the 5 position. They have Zaza, Mcgee, West, Bell, Looney, and Jones all that position...with Looney and Damian Jones having player options that need to be decided on. They have a logjam. IMO Myers is gonna try to determine if any of those guys can be the starting center of the future. I don’t think Kerr wants to start Mcgee...or he would have already done that. Looney is not a starting center type guy. Damian Jones is incredibly raw...I don’t know what his future holds. That leaves Bell as the primary candidate on this current roster to take over that role. Unless, of course, the Warriors make a trade for a guy they think can be their starting center. Maybe Myers tries to package a few young players/pieces for a guy they like in that role.

I don't know how Myers and Co think of it, but i would look at it in a bit of a different fashion.

Evaluate what you have.
Evaluate how/if you can use what you have.
Determine best way to move forward with what you have.
If after evaluation, the options are limited, or can be improved, look into trades.
(With evaluations constantly ongoing).

So... I don't think they should be looking at their youngsters for a starting center. They should be looking to see what they got... and if what they got can be used effectively now and in the future... vs. what can be acquired cheaply via FA on any given year. None of Looney, Bell, Jones need to show themselves to be our 30mpg starting center of the future. But they do need to show themselves capable of giving us minutes in big games without crapping the bed.

Over the past few years we have shown, we don't need a "starting center" to be effective at the center position. But we do need guys who can play about 10-20 mins per game if confined to a certain role. There's no reason to expect any of the youngsters to do more than what our current vet center group is doing for us (unless we are talking about paying them a lot more).

[azwfan]

I'll note that... none of the youngsters have proven to be replacements for the vets as of yet.
Bell is looking like he's pacing in the right direction. Looking good...
Looney MAY no longer be a total lost cause. Hope, is a good thing...
Jones has shown us nothing to date.

[whatisacenter]

Hey Onus......question....who would you rather have if you had to pick one and why;

Zaza or Javale?

I really like Zaza and he's such a nice dude. But I'm over his game benefiting us more than what Javale can do. Javale is a supreme athlete who protects the rim. He can score at better rates as well. Ill give Zaza the passing, free throw shooting, and screening.

Zaza does the little things. Box out, set screens, be physical. He's just a solid player.

Javale is a highlight machine and is an offensive threat. His defense is more noticeable but he's not a better defender than Zaza. With Javale it's very easy to see his impact because he's such a breathtaking athlete.

I think Zaza helps more because he's a more versatile defender for the playoffs, while Javale helps more against worse defenses.

What's your thinking?

Zaza boxing out Tristan Thompson in the finals made me a fan of his. He sets a mean screen, physical around the basket and can hit his free throws. Until Damion Jones can do what Zaza is doing for us, I say we keep him.

[Onus]

Hey Onus......question....who would you rather have if you had to pick one and why;

Zaza or Javale?

I really like Zaza and he's such a nice dude. But I'm over his game benefiting us more than what Javale can do. Javale is a supreme athlete who protects the rim. He can score at better rates as well. Ill give Zaza the passing, free throw shooting, and screening.

Zaza does the little things. Box out, set screens, be physical. He's just a solid player.

Javale is a highlight machine and is an offensive threat. His defense is more noticeable but he's not a better defender than Zaza. With Javale it's very easy to see his impact because he's such a breathtaking athlete.

I think Zaza helps more because he's a more versatile defender for the playoffs, while Javale helps more against worse defenses.

What's your thinking?

Zaza boxing out Tristan Thompson in the finals made me a fan of his. He sets a mean screen, physical around the basket and can hit his free throws. Until Damion Jones can do what Zaza is doing for us, I say we keep him.

that's my thinking as well. Zaza was absolutely able to neutralize TT, who has been running roughshod all over us. He was too mobile for Bogut and just big enough and athletic enough to out rebound Draymond. Zaza being able to neuter him was huge.

[Mylie10]

Ill give you the Zaza TT angle.

[cpower]

Zaza is good at defending bigs and overall the best defender but he makes too many mistakes offensively which probably neutralizes his defensive contribution.
West is less reliable defensively and a bit undersized, he is more reliable offensively
Mcgee is a good offensive player with the starters but he is actually the worse defender outside of blocking a few shots. Lacks of defensive fundamentals.
Looney, Jones can only be role players playing very limited minutes
Bell seems to have high bbiq and a solid individual defender (still lack of fundementals) I think he will be our starting center in 2 years

[Samurai]

I acknowledge that Zaza has some positive points: he really hustles on the court despite his lack of quickness and agility, he sets great screens (although he gets whistled for too many moving ones), he is willing to bang underneath and boxes out well, seems like a really good dude, and his wife is super hot. Not sure if all of those positives are in the right order! But he was never quick last season and he seems even a step slower this year; I'd hate to see what speed he is moving at come June. Bottom line is we know what Zaza can bring. We don't know what Bell, Looney and Jones can bring. Being young, they can look great one game - like Looney last night - and look lost another. I'd like to see Kerr give the young guys more opportunities to grow and see if they can be a solid starting center for us someday. Kerr himself said that Looney may not have gotten the chance to shine if not for Draymond's ejection. Not sold on Jones, but I'd like to see more meaningful minutes for Bell and Looney. If JaVale and West keep their current minutes, then the number crunch means that their increased playing time comes at Zaza's expense. And I'm OK with that.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Zaza does the little things. Box out, set screens, be physical. He's just a solid player.

Javale is a highlight machine and is an offensive threat. His defense is more noticeable but he's not a better defender than Zaza. With Javale it's very easy to see his impact because he's such a breathtaking athlete.

I think Zaza helps more because he's a more versatile defender for the playoffs, while Javale helps more against worse defenses.

What's your thinking?

Zaza boxing out Tristan Thompson in the finals made me a fan of his. He sets a mean screen, physical around the basket and can hit his free throws. Until Damion Jones can do what Zaza is doing for us, I say we keep him.

that's my thinking as well. Zaza was absolutely able to neutralize TT, who has been running roughshod all over us. He was too mobile for Bogut and just big enough and athletic enough to out rebound Draymond. Zaza being able to neuter him was huge.

I don't really think Zaza is more mobile than healthy Bogut was. I think in the 2016 playoffs Bogut was injured and Bogut and the whole team was burnt out. Zaza's game is boxing out. Bogut paid more attention to help defense.

Last year from what I could see JaVale was the Warriors best center. Kerr has me doubting my own perception.

[Onus]

Zaza boxing out Tristan Thompson in the finals made me a fan of his. He sets a mean screen, physical around the basket and can hit his free throws. Until Damion Jones can do what Zaza is doing for us, I say we keep him.

that's my thinking as well. Zaza was absolutely able to neutralize TT, who has been running roughshod all over us. He was too mobile for Bogut and just big enough and athletic enough to out rebound Draymond. Zaza being able to neuter him was huge.

I don't really think Zaza is more mobile than healthy Bogut was. I think in the 2016 playoffs Bogut was injured and Bogut and the whole team was burnt out. Zaza's game is boxing out. Bogut paid more attention to help defense.

Last year from what I could see JaVale was the Warriors best center. Kerr has me doubting my own perception.

That was part of the problem in 2016, we had too many guys trying to block Lebron that no one would box out. We didn't need 3 guys jumping with Lebron.

But I do think Zaza is more mobile without a doubt.

[Mylie10]

I still think West can box out, or do anything Zaza does. But I think what is really good for West, and the reason he came back for another go, is because of how Kerr has used him. He hasn't overused him and it keeps the old guy fresh, and feeling better as the year goes on.

It might seem like I'm banging on Zaza a bit to much. Maybe so, but the young guys need to play more, not less, because we have a few decisions to make. Save Zaza for Cleveland and TT then, and the rest of the year lets see the young guys flying around.

[The-Power]

I still think West can box out, or do anything Zaza does.

West can't hang with the big dudes as well as Zaza can, neither in the post nor on the boards.

[Onus]

According to Kawakami and Slater in Slater's podcast, Looney has been outplaying Bell in practice.

https://soundcloud.com/warriors-all82/pistons-recap-tim-kawakami

Around the 17 min mark

[cpower]

According to Kawakami and Slater in Slater's podcast, Looney has been outplaying Bell in practice.

https://soundcloud.com/warriors-all82/pistons-recap-tim-kawakami

Around the 17 min mark

he is in his 3rd year so i do expect him to be better. Bell is just smarter and has much better upside than Looney.

[The-Power]

he is in his 3rd year so i do expect him to be better.

And yet Looney is a whole year younger than Bell.

If it's true that he outplayed Bell: good for him and good for us. The young players, who don't get that much playing time anyway, should be pushing each other in practice and Kerr should reward them based on how they do there. Have them earn their minutes and play competitive basketball, can only be good for their development.

[HiRez]

Just read that the warriors will not pick up Looney's option for next year (and that they will pick up Damian Jones'). If that proves to be true, do they try to trade him? It seems likely given that he's having trouble even getting activated (Jordan Bell is making it really difficult), let alone getting minutes. And playing him in Santa Cruz is rather pointless if he has no future in Oakland.

[weekend_warrior]

They should pick up the option and give him the minutes of Zaza who has been beyond useless so far this season. It won't happen though.

[Mylie10]

Picking up the option is kind of pointless either way. Correct me if I'm wrong of course. But he may or may not get other offers just be a use of past history and the fact that there aren't many minutes to go around right now.

But after this season is over, we most likely aren't bringing Zaza back, and probably West finally retires. Javale is also a question mark, because he wants alto get paid. If someone brings Javale a solid offer, he will take it.

So, there is a scenario where Looney could resign with us to fill holes, and there may be more of an opportunity for him to get minutes next year. This way Looney plays his heart out this year in order to play for his future. He will still only have limited opportunities, so it's a tough hill to climb for him. I do like what I'm seeing from him though.


https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/247912/Warriors-Decline-Option-On-Kevon-Looney-Pick-Up-Damian-Jones

[The-Power]

But after this season is over, we most likely aren't bringing Zaza back, and probably West finally retires. Javale is also a question mark, because he wants alto get paid. If someone brings Javale a solid offer, he will take it.

The Warriors will still have Bell and Jones – two players they apparently trust more to be a piece in the future. So they'll look to get veteran players no matter what happens with Zaza, McGee and West. In other words, I believe the Warriors simply don't believe they need three young Centers who are all still learning the game for next year.

I feel bad for Looney. According to everyone in the organization, he got into great shape and worked incredibly hard to earn some minutes while never complaining about anything. I would have loved to keep him and see what he's got to offer but I understand why the FO will not pick up the team option.