The Golden State Warriors thus far in free agency have retained Kevin Durant but lost JaVale McGee to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The next big transaction upcoming may involve Kevon Looney, who is an unrestricted free agent and exploring his options.
Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Looney talked with the Los Angeles Clippers but there’s no deal necessarily imminent.
This development might be due to the connection Looney has to Jerry West, who is now serving as an executive board member of the Clippers.
West was a front office consultant for the Warriors when they drafted Looney in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.
West saw firsthand the potential Looney has, and perhaps this talk between Looney and the Clippers was facilitated by The Logo himself.
Looney also played his college ball at UCLA, so maybe he’s intrigued with playing pro ball in a city that’s familiar to him.
The Warriors reportedly reached out to Looney soon after the free agency period began to express interest in retaining him.
However, Looney might be trying to see if he can get more money out on the open market than the Warriors could offer him.
The Warriors can only give Looney about $2.2 million, which was what his team option was worth for 2018-19 before the Warriors declined it.
Although both sides would like a reunion, this is one of those cases where it seems like a decent chance that Looney is going to leave.
This is a team with success ingrained in its culture, and while Looney has said he enjoys playing for the Warriors, he could very well want a chance at increased playing time elsewhere.
Also, Looney hasn’t really cashed in on his potential yet, and the Warriors simply couldn’t offer him what another team might be able to.
All it takes is one team on the open market to be intrigued enough by his potential to offer him more money than the Warriors, and that might be all it takes.
It’s difficult to predict what type of market develops for a specific player, though, so maybe the offer the Warriors seem prepared to give him ends up being comparable to what he receives elsewhere.
The Warriors originally declined his team option back in October due to tax ramifications, and before he had his best season thus far in his career.
He saw increased playing time in the postseason when Andre Iguodala got hurt, and he performed admirably during that opportunity.
Due to that impressive stretch, there were immediate realizations that Looney might have priced himself out of what the Warriors could offer him this offseason.
That remains to be seen, but what’s clear is that Looney has some pretty big career decisions looming during this free agency period.