The Los Angeles Lakers have overhauled their entire roster this offseason, but especially at the center position, bringing in Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney to replace Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes.<\/p>\n
Looney is looking to get his career back on track after not playing much last season for the New Orleans Pelicans, and he believes playing with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will help do that, via Mark Medina of Fadeaway World<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big-time opportunity. It\u2019s big time to play for another historic franchise. Lakers fans are amazing. I\u2019ve been playing against them my whole career. I see how much they travel. They love their team, and they want their team to win. I\u2019m super excited to be a part of that. Playing with great players is great. I\u2019ll be able to play with Luka and Reaves, and everybody else. I\u2019m super excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Looney talked about how Doncic and Reaves can make life easier for him, and also how he can help them out with his defense, screens and rebounding:<\/p>\n \u201cThey have so much gravity. Luka is one of the best passers in the league. He can create so many opportunities for me as a pick-and-roll player. Being able to play at a high stage and play winning basketball again is amazing. Playing with Luka, it\u2019s going to be super cool to see him do his thing. For me, I can bring some toughness to the team, physicality and offensive rebounding. As a screener, I can get guys like Luka and Austin open. I\u2019m looking forward to that. I know if I can get those guys open, they can also get me a lot of layups and dunks (laughs). I\u2019m super excited about all of that. I\u2019m trying to watch more film and more of the games so I know how to implement myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Looney has a lot of experience as a screener going back to his time with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. He believes that will benefit him now playing with Doncic and Reaves: <\/p>\n \u201cFor Austin, I can set the screens on the ball and off the ball for him. On the pick-and-roll, I can get the angles for them. They\u2019re both scoring guards. So I can hold my screens. That should relieve them some pressure so they can get a clean look. That\u2019s something that I specialize at. So I\u2019m super excited to do it for those guys. Luka is a pick-and-roll master. He\u2019s probably the best in the league at it with finding angles and manipulating the defense. I want to pick his mind and learn from him and how he wants his screens set. With talking with those guys, I\u2019m excited about that part, too. Every time I go to a new team or play with a new guard, I ask them how he likes to play. That\u2019s always the fun part.\u201d<\/p>\n It remains to be seen what role Looney will play for the Lakers this season, but at the very least, his experience and leadership should be welcomed in a locker room that is now filled with young players.<\/p>\n Kevon Looney couldn\u2019t turn down opportunity with Lakers <\/p>\n When discussing why he decided to sign with the Lakers in free agency, Looney talked about how it was an opportunity he couldn\u2019t pass up<\/a>. Looney has ties to the Los Angeles area after playing his college ball at UCLA, and now he gets to continue his career in purple and gold.<\/p>\n