Golden State Warriors: Kevon Looney’s status remains up in the air

Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney has missed the entire preseason dealing with a hamstring injury and his status for the team’s regular-season opener remains uncertain.

The Golden State Warriors have already encountered the injury bug before the regular season has even begun and one of those players affected has been big man Kevon Looney.

Looney has missed the entire preseason after tweaking his hamstring around two weeks ago. And while it didn’t seem too serious at first, Looney’s continued absence has fans a little worried.

In his Tuesday afternoon press conference, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters that the team “hopes” that Looney will be ready to play in time for the Warriors’ season opener.

Golden State will kick off their season in 10 days’ time when they take on the new-look Los Angeles Clippers on the road. However, they may be doing so without their top two big men.

Aside from Looney, free-agent acquisition Willie Cauley-Stein remains sidelined with a foot injury and it’s unlikely that he’s ready to go for the season opener. On top of that, rookie second-round pick Alen Smailagic is out for “the foreseeable future” with an ankle injury.

If Kevon Looney is forced to miss that game, the depth at center will be very limited. Offseason acquisition Omari Spellman remains the only other feasible option to play at the position and even he isn’t a true center standing at just 6-foot-9.

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That is unless the Warriors want to trot out Draymond Green as the team’s starting center.

However, the wild card in this situation remains former top-10 draft pick Marquese Chriss. Chriss was given a training camp contract this fall with the hope that he could revitalize his career with the Warriors.

And through three preseason games, Chriss has been very impressive even managing a double-double in Monday’s 104-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Warriors would need to make room if they did want to sign Chriss to the active roster and that would likely come in the form of releasing projected starting small forward Alfonzo McKinnie from his non-guaranteed contract.

However, the need for big-man depth and Chriss’ continued strong preseason could very well force the Warriors to make that move.

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Many were excited to see how Kerr would utilize his big men in the preseason with both Looney and Cauley-Stein competing for the starting job. Cauley-Stein showed flashes of greatness while with the Sacramento Kings while Looney has developed into a vital piece of the Warriors’ rotation.

Unfortunately, it’s still unclear how things will shake out when the team is fully healthy.

What is clear, however, is that the Warriors will certainly miss Looney’s presence — whether in a starting role or coming off the bench. His competitive spirit alone gives life to the team when he’s on the court and Golden State will surely miss that on top of his stat-sheet contributions.

Hopefully, Kevon Looney will be able to play against the Clippers and the Warriors will have one of their top big men available.

If not, expect a heavy dosage of Spellman with a strong likelihood that Chriss makes the final roster.