The Knicks are searching for center depth after losing Mitchell Robinson
Kevon Looney spent a decade in Golden State winning three championships and building a reputation as one of basketball's steadiest role players, a 30th overall pick who fought through early hip surgeries before turning into a rotation fixture.
That reputation now looks like it is heading to New York.
New Orleans is expected to decline the 30-year-old center's $8 million team option, which would make him an unrestricted free agent right as the Knicks search for size behind Karl-Anthony Towns.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Knicks are now considered the favorites to land him, a jump from just days earlier when Looney was framed as merely a fallback option.
Fischer said on a Bleacher Report livestream that he is "expecting them to come to an agreement" in the near future, pointing to the long relationship between Looney and Knicks coach Mike Brown, who spent years coaching him as a Warriors assistant before taking the New York job last summer.
Why The Timing Works
New York just finished a 53-29 season and its first championship in 53 years, but the group that got the Knicks there is already changing fast this summer.
Mitchell Robinson agreed to a three-year, $47.4 million deal with the rival Boston Celtics this week, with New York losing a major piece of its title run once owner James Dolan made it plain he would not push the payroll past the second luxury tax apron.
Robinson averaged 5.7 points and 8.8 rebounds a game this past season, numbers that will be tough to fully replace, and backup center Ariel Hukporti also left for Philadelphia the same week, leaving the roster thin at center almost overnight.
Roundtable's look at the Celtics landing Robinson pointed out that New York now has a real hole behind Towns, and Looney profiles as a cheap way to help fill it.
He is not the rim protector or lob threat that Robinson was, but he brings elite screening, offensive rebounding, and a calm presence a team defending a title can use.
How The Frontcourt Would Look
Towns would remain the unquestioned starter, with Looney sliding into the backup five spot that Robinson and Hukporti once shared.
Looney played just 21 games for the Pelicans last season, starting eight of them while averaging 2.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 14.7 minutes, a solid line that still ranks among the steadier rebounding rates at his position.
Most have said that possible Robinson replacements framed him as complementary depth rather than a true one for one fill-in, and that lines up with how Brown tends to use bigs who do not need the ball to be effective.
Adding a three-time champion who already trusts the coaching staff and knows exactly what the postseason demands still gives New York a low risk option to keep its frontcourt afloat while it sorts out the rest of an offseason built around staying below the tax line.
