Kevon Looney Is a Perfect Fit For The Washington Wizards

The time has finally come. In one day, the NBA draft will be underway as each team tries to find their new franchise player, or a player that can contribute to an already established organization in order to win an NBA title. With the 19th pick in tomorrow’s draft, the Washington Wizards will be one of the teams that is looking for a player to come in and contribute immediately to help them advance to the NBA Finals, a place they haven’t been since the 1978-79 season. Like every team being analyzed, there are many options the Wizards could choose from to address their weaknesses, but one player that should fall to them will fit the script perfectly.

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In an ideal situation, if Trey Lyles or Bobby Portis for some reason fell to the Wizards, then they should undoubtedly choose one or the other, but most likely both of those players will go somewhere in the lottery or just outside of it. There have been many analysts that predict the Wizards will go with Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant, but with Ramon Sessions under contract next season, they aren’t in dire need of addressing the backup point guard position quite yet.

The Wizards do not have what seemingly all other NBA teams do, which is a producing stretch power forward. Kevon Looney from UCLA, is projected to still be available when Washington’s name is called. The 19-year-old is 6’9 and possesses a 7’3 wingspan that will for sure enable him to match up with other big men in the NBA.

Even though Looney is extremely raw, his potential is through the roof. He is without a doubt a mobile big man and can also handle the ball. After his recent pre-draft workout with the Wizards, he told Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo that while he was in high school, he played point guard. It wasn’t until after he grew from 6’4 to 6’9 that he started to work on his post game more intensely.

Looney would very well fit the role of being a stretch four. Last season at UCLA, he finished shooting from beyond the arc at 41.5 percent. Although he didn’t take a huge number of them, he still was able to knock them down when his number was called. Also in his interview with Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, Looney explained how he can play both small forward and power forward,

"“Otto Porter played a lot of three and the four. Paul Pierce even played four this year. You watch a team like Golden State, where their guys are playing everywhere, so I don’t want to limit myself. I think I can play both. If my coach needs me to play the four, I will play it. If they need me to play the three I will play it.”"

In his freshman year Looney averaged 9.2 rebounds per game, which he ranked 30th in the country. It isn’t just his length and athletic ability that make him an elite rebounder. He possesses tremendous IQ on how to attack the backboard from distinct angles that give him the advantage on his opponent. Once you put into thought his length, athleticism, and quickness, it makes him even more valuable.

Since Nene is also still under contract, this will most likely leave Looney coming off the bench at least for the start of the season. Nene has battled a countless number of injuries during his career that continued to limit his games last season as well. Having to go against big guys like Nene and Marcin Gortat each day in practice though will be great to prepare Looney when he does get his named inserted in the starting lineup.

There hasn’t been many mock drafts that have Looney going before Washington, so if Lyles and Portis both get called, don’t panic Wizards’ fans. Looney may be a better fit after all.

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Kevon Looney Is The Perfect Fit For The Washington Wizards

By Colby Giacubeno | Jun 24, 2015

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