Getty Kevon Looney #5, Draymond Green #23 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors look to rebound against the Portland Trail Blazers in game two of the NBA Western Conference Finals at ORACLE Arena on May 16, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors have announced some of the most troubling injury news of their NBA season.
The Dubs have dealt with health concerns all year, starting with Klay Thompson missing the first 38 games of the regular season and Draymond Green sitting out the last 16 contests — plus a handful of other issues in between. However, Golden State on Tuesday issued an injury report with perhaps the most troubling news of the season to date — that center Kevon Looney is questionable with a quad contusion at a time when the Warriors are rolling and trying to keep pace with the Phoenix Suns atop the NBA’s Western Conference.
Anthony Slater, of The Athletic, took to Twitter on February 8 to detail Looney’s status.
Kevon Looney is questionable for tomorrow’s game in Utah with a left quad contusion. Happened on a collision while setting a screen last night in OKC. He’s played every game this season. The Warriors’ only currently healthy true center. Andre Iguodala out with back tightness.
“Kevon Looney is questionable for tomorrow’s game in Utah with a left quad contusion,” Slater wrote. “Happened on a collision while setting a screen last night in OKC. He’s played every game this season. The Warriors’ only currently healthy true center. Andre Iguodala out with back tightness.”
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Injury to Warriors Looney is Arguably More Concerning Than Those to Green or Thompson
GettyGolden State Warriors center Kevon Looney handles the ball during a game against the Phoenix Suns.
Asserting that the potential loss of Looney is a bigger deal than those of Thompson and Green might strain credulity and induce eye rolls, but the notion is a serious one when examined closely in the context of the Warriors’ flaws.
As Slater noted in his tweet, Looney is the team’s only healthy center. Depth along the Dubs’ front line is the only roster weakness frequently hammered by bigger NBA teams during games and by most NBA analysts in print. The vast majority of trade deadline talk and discussion of the buyout market surrounding the Warriors involves trying to land a big man to strengthen their interior.
Not to mention, Looney’s presence is that much more crucial for the Warriors’ defense when Green is out, and Green has said himself that he will not rejoin the team for at least three to four weeks as he tries to overcome back and calf issues.
Looney’s Injury Could Push Warriors Into a Trade Before NBA Deadline
GettyGolden State Warriors forward Draymond Green reacts during a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Warriors have stood firm that they do not intend to deal any major young pieces for a big man before the February 10 trade deadline. However, the injury to Looney along with the uncertainty of Green’s health and return timetable could facilitate a change in strategy.
Green said just days ago that he would be “shocked” if the Warriors made a move to trade for a new player. Presumably that had something to do with repeated assertions from head coach Steve Kerr and the Golden State front office that second-year big man James Wiseman, despite the fact that he’s been hurt all season, and rookie standout Jonathan Kuminga are off the table when it comes to a mid-season trade. However, multiple analysts have spoken recently of a possible willingness from inside the organization to part with rookie guard Moses Moody as part of deal to upgrade the team’s front line.
“Talking to a personnel guy this week, the question was: What is the real deal they have out there, what could [the Warriors] actually do? They would consider trading Moses Moody, that’s what I’ve been told — that he’s got a lot of upside, he’s been fantastic in the G League, they really like him,” Sean Deveney, NBA editor at Heavy.com, said on January 29. “They’ve got Jordan Poole long term as their other wing, so I think they’re not looking at [Moody] as someone they need to keep, [but as] someone they’d be willing to part with.”
Rob Mahoney, NBA analyst for The Ringer, echoed Deveney’s sentiments less than a week later during a February 3 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
“Maybe it isn’t even Wiseman or Looney, maybe there’s like a Moses Moody-based trade to be had — or flipping some of these role guys who are on not insignificant contracts and packaging them together to get a workable center to just plug some of those minutes,” Mahoney said. “I think something like that could be in the cards.”
If such a move is in the cards for the Warriors, then the injury to Looney only serves to stack the deck further in that direction.