The Golden State Warriors have been busy in the early hours of NBA free agency, making moves to secure D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant and sending Andre Iguodala to Memphis in order to create salary cap flexibility. On Monday evening, Bob Myers continued his flurry of activity with a bargain signing, reportedly securing a three-year commitment from center Kevon Looney.
Kevon Looney is returning to the Warriors on a three-year, $15M deal, agent @tramasar tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
After the sign-and-trade for Russell, Golden State is “hard-capped” at the apron and, with nine figures in salary committed to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Russell, the Warriors are a bit strapped for flexibility. However, this reported contract would allow the team to lock in a starting-caliber center in Looney for the future, all while maintaining the ability to fill out the roster without exceeding the league-mandated cap.
https://twitter.com/jgsiegel/status/1145844516726796288
Looney took a significant step forward last season and, in many circles, the 23-year-old center was expected to procure a more lucrative contract. It is possible that he could be taking some degree of a hometown discount in order to stick the team that drafted and developed him but, all told, this is a significant victory for the Warriors in taking advantage of Looney’s full Bird Rights to make the roster better.
The next steps for Golden State will be tricky, with very little wiggle room and more spots to fill, but after a shaky few hours, the Warriors picked up a nice value on Looney’s contract.
