The Utah Jazz's preference is to keep Jusuf Nurkic (last we checked), but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed that he'll be back on the team. Unlike Walker Kessler, the Jazz don't have nearly as much control of the Nurkic situation. Everyone wants Nurkic back in Utah, but if that's not what happens, Kevon Looney would be an excellent choice to fill in for him.
Looney is not the player he was, and it's not like he was the biggest game-changer, but he is a three-time NBA Champion whose calling card was his offensive rebounding abilities. He didn't have the best year with New Orleans, which explains why he is not an unrestricted free agent.
New Orleans Pelicans are expected to decline the $8M team option on veteran center Kevon Looney, making the 3-time NBA champ an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell me. pic.twitter.com/U45QTgHWKy
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2026
Nonetheless, on a team like the Jazz, a team that will try accomplish as much as possible, whose ceiling we still won't know about until probably around the calendar year, having someone like Looney around could be useful for a team that could use experience.
Granted, that's also why the Jazz should bring back Kevin Love, which is also more up in the air than we thought, but still. Having someone who has been there and can at least be serviceable depth in their frontcourt is a good option. That is, as long as he comes at a team-friendly price.
Utah could do much worse.
It's not like big man depth is a huge need for the Jazz
That's the dirty little secret about this team. Whether Nurkic comes back or not, they'll still have (likely) Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Kyle Filipowski in their rotation. Granted, Markkanen will start at the three, but Utah also has Ace Bailey to take those minutes any time they want to go bigger with Markkanen at the five.
That quartet is actually pretty impressive when compared to other frontcourt rotaitons in the NBA. That's why Looney and/or Love would round out a solid rotation for the Jazz. Odds are, there will be some injuries over the course of the 2026-27 season, so having a Looney type could come quite in handy.
He still is an excellent offensive rebounder, which is something that Nurkic brought to Utah, and if he can do that for a cheap price, Utah should be happy about that.
Let's repeat the point: Utah's preference should be to keep Nurkic, but it's not the end of the world if he leaves. Utah's frontcourt is too talented for them to truly suffer from his departure, and adding Looney would soften the blow.
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