Ooney exercises player option

Warriors center Kevon Looney is exercising his l5.2 million player option to return to

olden State next season, a league source confirmed with The Chronicle.

This comes as no surprise to the team. Looney, 25, is coming off a bounceback season and is in line to be the Warriors’ starting center in 202122.

olden State is poised to have at least two centers on the rosterb Looney and James Wiseman. Juan ToscanoAnderson and Draymond reen can also fill in as smallball centers.

The No. 30 pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Warriors, Looney is the team’s fourth longesttenured player behind

reen, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. After head coach Steve Kerr called him a “foundational piece” in spring 2019, Looney endured an injurymarred 201920 season. A core muscle surgery helped him return to his reliable ways.

Though Looney averaged just .1 points per game this past season, he was rarely out of position defensively or slow to box out his man. His defensive real plusminus — a stat measuring a player’s average impact on his team’s defense by points allowed per 100 offensive possessions — was third on the Warriors, behind Andrew Wiggins and Draymond reen.

olden State outscored opponents by Ø.2 more points per 100 possessions when Looney was on the floor than when he was on the bench. To eradicate his team’s slow starts, Kerr supplanted Wiseman in the starting lineup with Looney in late January.

Wiseman replaced Looney in the first unit about a month later, but Looney thrived as the Warriors’ starter after Wiseman suffered a seasonending knee injury in midApril. Perhaps most notable was the fact that Looney, who long was limited to 20 or so minutes per night, began to routinely eclipse the 30minute mark.

With Wiseman expected to miss most — if not all — of the offseason recovering from knee surgery, Looney will likely remain the starter, at least early next season. His return allows general manager Bob Myers to focus on more pressing needs in the draft and free agency.