Warriors’ Kevon Looney Takes Big Step Towards Stretch Five Goal for 2024–25 Season

The 2024-25 NBA season is set to usher in a new era of Warriors basketball. Klay Thompson signing with the Mavericks signaled the end of the team’s historic dynasty. However, the franchise isn’t planning on changing its philosophy despite losing one of the best shooters in NBA history. They want to continue to shoot three-pointers at a high clip and even expect Kevon Looney to follow suit.

In a scrimmage game during the Warriors’ ongoing training camp in Hawaii, the center banked a three-point shot to end the contest. Head coach Steve Kerr expects him to continue taking shots from beyond the arc and stretch the floor, a hallmark of the team’s offensive philosophy, which has yielded four championships. In a conversation with reporters after practice, he said,

“[Kevon Looney] finished the scrimmage with a corner three… If he’s open and he’s standing still, I want him shooting that three.”

While he wants Looney to attempt three-pointers when he has the time and space, he is realistic about how often he expects the center to shoot from beyond the arc. He said,

“He’s not a pick-and-pop three-point shooter. He’s a broken play, he’s on the perimeter, shot clock going down, let that thing fly. That’s different from Kevin Love.”

While Looney’s head coach doesn’t have enough faith in his shooting ability to make him a stretch five, the center revealed he worked hard on it during the offseason to earn the team’s confidence and play that role. He said,

“I shot a lot more threes, probably 400-500 every day. In the past, I would shoot some but it wasn’t my focus… I want to be able when the time comes to space the floor and make the open shot.”

Looney is the third-longest tenured player on the roster behind Stephen Curry and Draymond Green but could finally have his breakthrough year in his 10th season with the franchise.

A new chapter as a Warrior awaits Looney

Since the Warriors drafted him in 2015, Looney is among the handful of players that the team didn’t expect to shoot from beyond the arc. In his nine-year career, he has attempted only 60 three-pointers, roughly 3% of his career shot attempts. Last season he attempted only one, which he missed.

The most three-pointers he’s ever taken was in the 2020-21 season, where he attempted 17. However, he’s keen on changing his reputation in the upcoming campaign and his teammates are on board with his plan. When asked about Looney potentially becoming a threat from beyond the arc, DeAnthony Melton said,

“Him shooting threes? I’m with it. As long as you shoot it with confidence, as long as you don’t get gunshy, that’s all I care about… He looks good. He looks like high school mix-tape, he looking like that type slim”

Thompson’s exit has left a void that the Warriors intend to fill by committee rather than with one superstar, and Looney is keen on being part of it.