Golden State Warriors: 3 reasons Kevon Looney is a great signing

3. Switchability

One of the few traits Looney exhibited during the 2018 NBA Playoffs was the ability to switch onto ball-handlers and do a fairly good job at confining them to the perimeter.

Nobody can truly stop the elite guards of the NBA, but when Looney was put up to the challenge at random points throughout the game, he surprised many with an ability to shuffle his feet well enough to take notice.

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For all the talk about the Hamptons 5 lineup the Warriors love to trot out — one that doesn’t deploy a traditional center — Golden State will still choose to go with a more conventional lineup in order to hide its best hand.

Because Looney has proven a passable perimeter defender, it allows coach Steve Kerr to insert him into games without sacrificing Golden State’s defensive strategy, which includes switching on pretty much every screen.

This will allow a Warriors team that ranked second among postseason participants in points allowed to maintain that elite level of defense without having to trot out their best five guys in order to do so, keeping the mystique of the Hamptons 5 alive.