Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
The Warriors have signed Kevon Looney to a rookie scale contract, the team announced via a press release. Looney was the final pick of the first round in this year’s NBA Draft. The 19-year-old appeared in 36 contests for the Bruins last season, averaging 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. His slash line was .470/.415/.626.
The forward out of UCLA has lottery-level talent, but long-term concerns about his hip likely caused him to last until the No. 30 overall pick. Looney believes that he can continue to play without surgery but will reportedly undergo a medical evaluation to determine if a procedure is necessary. “I had suffered a hip injury when I first got to UCLA, and I played the whole season with it,” Looney told Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group regarding his condition. “I went through the [draft] workouts with it. I still can play now. I can play just fine. I can walk good. I’m not hurting right now. I’m looking to the doctors to tell me what they really want to do, but this is an injury that I had, and I can actually play with, and I can actually do well with it.“
Looney, who is represented by both Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management and Todd Ramasar of Stealth Sports, will earn $1,191,960 this coming season in the first year of a four-year deal, assuming that he receives the standard 120% of the rookie scale. The forward is in line to take home $1,182,840 for the 2016/17 campaign, $1,233,840 the following season, and $2,227,081 in the final year of the pact.