To help readers get to know top NBA draft prospects, Insider offers a 360-degree look at many of them in a concise and thorough scouting report featuring three expert perspectives: Kevin Pelton (analytics), Fran Fraschilla (scouting) and Chad Ford (NBA front offices). Here's a look at Kevon Looney.
WARP Projection: 2.0 (20th among players in top 100)
Comps: Thaddeus Young (95.9), Maurice Harkless (95.6), Marvin Williams (95.1), Rudy Gay (95.0)
Strengths: Rebound%, TO%
Weaknesses: Usage
The analytics perspective
As Chad Ford and I detailed last week, the team that drafts Looney will be choosing potential over immediate production. Looney is a particularly raw offensive player. While he shot an impressive-looking 41.5 percent from 3-point range, that came on just 53 attempts, and his 25.7 percent accuracy on 2-pointers away from the rim (per Hoop-Math.com) is probably a better indicator of his shooting ability.
Looney is more likely to contribute immediately in other ways. According to Sports-Reference.com, he was one of four major-conference freshmen to post at least 30 blocks and 30 steals (a group that also includes Duke's Justise Winslow). Looney was also a consistent presence on the glass with 15 double-doubles, albeit a fairly average rebounder for a power forward in percentage teams. If his offense catches up with the rest of his game, Looney figures to be a solid starter like most prospects similar to him.
-- Kevin Pelton
The scouting perspective
Kevon Looney is like the high school left-handed pitcher who throws 96 miles an hour. He's good enough to draft high but you are not sure how long it will take him to develop into a professional player.
This is not meant to be a negative, but the 6-foot-9 220-pound power forward will be a "project" for the team that drafts him. Asking him to contribute to a winning team as a rookie is unreasonable, at this point. And Looney won't turn 20 years old until February.
In his favor, to go along with his size, Looney has a 7-foot-3 wingspan and a reasonably good motor. That combination enabled him to average more than nine rebounds a game as a freshman. But having to play 31 minutes a game seemed to fatigue him at times and rendered him ineffective. That can improve with physical maturity and a good work ethic.
However, by NBA standards, he is an average athlete for his position. That affected his ability to score in the paint, shooting and rendered him ineffective as a rim protector. Looney was 394th in the country with a block rate of 3.3 blocks per 100 2-point field goal attempts by opponents. In the Pac-12, it was 2.2 percent.
While Looney did make 43 percent of his 3-point shots in a small sample size (a positive, nevertheless) he made only 26 of his 101 2-point jump shot attempts, according to hoop-math.com. It is an area that I believe can be improved upon in time.
The best bet for Looney is land with a playoff team that does not need him to impact immediately. If his work ethic is a positive, there is room for him to develop into a contributing NBA player. Age is on his side. The early season talk of the lottery, however, was premature in my opinion.
-- Fran Fraschilla
The front office perspective
Looney, a top-10 player coming out of high school, shocked much in the recruiting community by leaving Wisconsin to play at UCLA. He got minutes right away, and early on many scouts thought he should be a top-five pick based on his length, versatility and elite rebounding skills.
Looney's production cooled off somewhat as the season went on. As UCLA faced tougher opponents, Looney sometimes struggled offensively to assert himself. He remained, however, a presence on the offensive glass, showed a sweet 3-point shot and would show glimpses of being able to bring the ball up the floor. The scouts that watched him in practice came away smitten with his ability to play small forward in the pros.
Looney is still largely about upside and the team that takes him will have to be patient until he adds strength, improves his conditioning and adds a solid midrange game. Still, the ceiling on Looney is tremendous and if he hits it, he'll be one of the best players in the draft. Look for him to land in the 7-to-14 range.
"My staff is kind of split on him," one GM said. "You see the potential for greatness there. The kid is crazy long, he's tougher than you think and when you see him in practice, he can even play like a guard. He'll be better on the right team in the NBA than he was at UCLA. But I also could see him never finding a position, and being stuck as a tweener that never figures out his true identity. He goes to the right team, he could be an All-Star. The wrong team, and I could see him being really disappointing. I could say that about a lot of the kids in this draft, but Looney especially fits that mold."
-- Chad Ford