Mar 26, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Kevon Looney during practice the day before the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA Champions and they didn’t have a lot of needs going into the NBA Draft. However, they still had the 30th pick overall, the last pick in the first round.
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Many believed the Warriors would package the 30th pick to try and unload David Lee’s contract, but that would be tough to do. Earlier reports suggested the Warriors would look to move up, but that didn’t happen.
The Warriors kept their pick and selected Kevon Looney with the 30th pick. As always, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was the first to break the news:
The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will select UCLA’s Kevon Looney with the 30th pick in the draft, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2015
Looney averaged 11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds last season with the UCLA Bruins. He was the leader on their Sweet 16 team and was projected a lottery pick during the college basketball season. An injury to his hip scared some teams away and slid all the way to the Warriors at 30.
At 6-foot-9, Looney has great size for the power forward position. Defensively, he will be just fine in the NBA, it’s his offense that needs work. He has a 7-foot-3 wingspan and can rebound the ball with the best of them. He was one of the leaders in the Pac-12 in double-doubles, but will need to address his health issues before he can see the floor.
Looney is a skilled big man that can potentially develop into a formidable player. There’s no rush, so the Warriors can take their time with him.