The 2025 offseason was an interesting one for the New Orleans Pelicans. It was the first of the Joe Dumars era, and it was much more eventful than this summer. Dumars' first free-agent signing as New Orleans' lead man saw him bring in Kevon Looney on a one-year $8 million deal with a team option for a second year at the same price point. In hindsight, this move was a complete flop. But at the time, it felt like a great move, as the center position was a massive weakness and Looney checked a ton of boxes.
After declining his option with New Orleans, Looney hit the open market and signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers to back up Walker Kessler.
While Lakers fans are mostly coming into this signing with incredibly low expectations, they may still be let down because having Looney as your secondary center is a recipe for disaster. Age and all the years of being a punching bag in the post have caught up to Looney, and last season with the Pelicans was proof of that.
In the 2025-26 season, Looney struggled to stay on the court and in the rotation on a team that won 26 games. So, how is he going to be able to provide value in a similar role for a team that will be in a ton of high-leverage situations?
The Lakers are tasking Kevon Looney with too much
Now I would like to make it clear that in no world is Looney washed. In the games he played last season for the Pelicans, he did leave an impact on the game, and his rebounding remains elite. The issue is that all those years of being the dirty work guy for Steph Curry and company have caught up with him. The nine years he spent in Golden State banging in the post, crashing the glass, protecting the rim, and freeing up shooters with hard screens left their mark on his body.
Last season with the Pelicans, that same energy we saw during the years he spent contending with the Warriors wasn’t there. Frankly, he looked drained and tired.
And that was on a Pelicans team that was 2-10 by the 12-game mark and wasn’t really playing with any expectations beyond simply competing every night. This is the Los Angeles Lakers we are talking about, the franchise with the second most NBA Championships ever, a team with a top-5 player in the world in the prime of his career.
Looney played in 21 games last season and is now going to a Lakers team that’s going to ask him to play at least three times that many games, plus the playoffs. Those types of expectations aren’t realistic for 30-year-old Looney, and LA’s front office is setting itself and fans up for a massive letdown.
Looney showed last season that he can be a strong presence in the locker room and provide a team with spot minutes when needed. That description fits the bill of a third- or fourth-string big man, not the No. 2 on a team with hopes of hanging a banner next season.
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