Warriors fans left hopeful after Pelicans make curious Kevon Looney decision

Sunday marked the time in which NBA teams could officially announce trades and free agent moves that had been previously been agreed upon, with the Golden State Warriors confirming their involvement in an historic seven-team trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets.

A host of other moves across the league were made official, including former Warrior Jordan Poole moving to the New Orleans Pelicans. Yet in a curious decision that has Warriors fans a little intrigued, the Pelicans chose not to announce the signing of veteran center Kevon Looney.

Why has Kevon Looney's signing not been made official?

Within a few hours after free agency opened last Monday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the beloved Looney was leaving the Warriors after a decade to sign a two-year, $16 million contract with the Pelicans.

Why then would the Pelicans not announce that on Sunday? It's not as if their social media team was taking the day given they had time to make official the Poole trade. There's a high likelihood that it was just a coincidence and that the signing will be announced in the coming hours, but it nonetheless created a stir on social media where fans started to speculate on what may be happening behind the scenes.

It's important to note that Looney's current reported contract with New Orleans can't be included in a sign-and-trade. In order to do so, a player must get a three-year contract of guaranteed money, just as Klay Thompson got last offseason which allowed a six-team sign-and-trade where Golden State got Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield.

Is there a chance that behind the scenes the Warriors are trying to angle for Looney to get a three-year contract to make a sign-and-trade feasible? Again it's unlikely, but not completely out of the realms of possibility.

It's also worth noting that the Pelicans have been one of the teams linked to restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. Including Looney in a sign-and-trade with Kuminga would allow Golden State to take back more salary, rather than just 50% of the latter's salary due to base-year compensation rules.

In fact, it's almost impossible to envisage a Looney sign-and-trade that doesn't include Kuminga. If the Warriors did that with Looney before resolving the Kuminga situation, they'd hard-cap themselves at the first apron and completely ruin their chances of being able to match a significant offer for the former seventh overall pick.

There shouldn't be an expectation that a sign-and-trade or anything more happens with the Looney situation, but it does remain peculiar as to why the Pelicans didn't announce it on Sunday nearly a week after reports of the signing.