Atlanta Hawks: 8 Free Agents in Playoffs Hawks Could Sign in Offseason

Kevon Looney

The Golden State Warriors, who had statistically the best offense in NBA history this season, choked away a mammoth 31-point lead against the LA Clippers in Game 2 of the team’s first round series.

The Clips ended the game on a ridiculous 72-37 run to steal game 2 from the Warriors, who, despite all their talent and pedigree, look more vulnerable than ever before – especially with the loss of DeMarcus Cousins to a torn left quad.

With that being the case, the team will have to rely on fourth-year big man Kevon Looney to play a significant role for this team. Since Looney will likely be playing more minutes down the playoff stretch, this will give Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk a better chance to get a look at Looney to see if he’ll be a good fit on the Hawks. The early returns are good, as Looney scored a career-high 19 points in game 2:

Taking a look at BBall Index’s player impact plus/minus numbers for the Warriors shows that Looney actually had a more positive impact on his team’s play than All-Star Klay Thompson (mostly proving that numbers can be deceiving). Though Klay’s offense was superior, of course, Looney’s slight positive impact on both offense and defense game him a PIPM of 0.8, while Klay’s sat at -0.2.

Looney flashed some interesting development this season, and he showed the ability to be a capable offensive and defensive player with youth on his side – as well as development in one of the best-run organizations in the NBA.

Since Hawks GM Sclenk was likely involved in the process behind drafting Looney with the final pick of the first round in 2015, perhaps he’ll prioritize bringing Looney on board as a member of this up-and-coming Atlanta Hawks team.