DeMarcus Cousins was, at least at the beginning of his tenure at the Houston Rockets, one of the worst players in the NBA. In 11 games, he averaged 6.1 points in 26.3 percent of shots. But in late January, flashes of the ex-All-Star began to appear. In his last 14 games, he reached 12.4 points with 44.6 percent of shots, and in his final appearance as a Rocket, he gave Houston 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
He is still a defensive player with many flaws and extremely limited mobility. His selection of shots is at the very least questionable, and he is one of the NBA’s biggest injury risks. Your superstar advantage, in all likelihood, is gone. But in a very specific type of role with the right teammates, Cousins can still be a moderately productive NBA player, and moderately productive NBA players rarely hit the market in February. Cousins may not have an advantage for the stars, but their advantage over the available alternatives is enormous. There will be interest in Cousins now that it is available, and these five teams are the most logical destinations.
The Lakers had their turn at the Cousins carousel last season and, by all accounts, it was a very positive experience. Although he never played for Los Angeles thanks to the torn ACL that kept him out for the whole season, he was a good soldier on the sidelines, and when he was released in February to make room for takeovers, there was supposed to be mutual interest in a return. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer is reporting that the Lakers are still interested in such a meeting now.
On a short-term basis, this is not particularly surprising. The Lakers are short on size with Anthony Davis out, and even when he returns, the two found success together in New Orleans and enjoyed playing with each other that Davis recruited Cousins to Los Angeles in 2019.
The pertinent question here is how Frank Vogel would fit Cousins into the rotation. He simply cannot coexist with Marc Gasol defensively. Both are too slow to share the floor. A Montrezl Harrell fit is also not ideal. Any team that hires Cousins would do it on the offensive side, but according to Synergy Sports, Harrell is in the 98th percentile in overall offensive efficiency. Cousins cannot improve this. Harrell flourished as a top scorer this season, scoring an impressive 1.2 points for possession alone. Asking him to give up his belongings for cousins minimizes his value, especially since he is not a threat behind the bow. The defenses are perfectly comfortable moving away from Cousins as well, further inhibiting Harrell in the painting, and Harrell’s own defensive limitations would further weaken the pair as a whole.
Davis is the only Laker equipped to cover Cousins’ shortcomings, and he’s out for now. Even when he returns, there are simply not many central minutes to go, especially when Davis starts to play more central minutes in the postseason. The Lakers could split the position between Cousins, Gasol and Harrell, but how happy any of them would be with this deal has yet to be seen.
Rob Pelinka could address these concerns in the commercial market, although that also doesn’t seem very likely. Gasol and Harrell suffered pay cuts to play for the Lakers. Harrell is represented by Klutch Sports, who also represents LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He left money on the table because he believed that being a Laker would help improve his value in 2021 as a free agency. Would incurring Klutch’s fury for betraying Harrell really be worth just adding Cousins? Gasol is Laker’s royalty. His brother, Pau, is a legend of the team that has already gone bad. The Buss family would probably prefer not to push him further, negotiating with his brother after he made an extremely friendly deal for the team in the off-season.
If Cousins joined them, Vogel would have to juggle with another big name in an already packed rotation. He did this successfully last season, and teams led by LeBron James never avoid high-risk, high-reward additions, but adding Cousins would not be as simple as inserting another great man into a team that is suffering from size.
Speaking of teams that suffer from size, Blazers are basically pretending that the central reserve position does not exist. Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins and Harry Giles are all injured, and the Blazers have turned to small ball only to survive whenever Enes Kanter goes to the bench. It creates some of basketball’s most shocking stylistic contrasts. Kanter cannot defend himself outside of painting. Robert Covington offers more rim protection than a player his size should, but he is at his best wandering around the perimeter and hunting for thefts and deflections. Blazers are trying to escape the type of drop coverage that Kanter specializes in. This comes with serious limitations in the playoffs. But the injuries forced his hand, so they might as well hug him for now.
Terry Stotts successfully hid Kanter’s defensive flaws in the regular season, so in theory he could do the same for Cousins. Portland was interested in Cousins in 2018 before he signed with the Warriors, and as we saw with Carmelo Anthony, the Blazers are perfectly willing to hit a previous target well after the rest of the league has lost interest. Anthony’s redemption tour was a huge success. Perhaps the Blazers could have the same effect on Primos.
Only one big man on the Toronto list has a positive net rating this season. When Chris Boucher is on the ground, the Raptors play well. When Aron Baynes or Alex Len are on the floor, they don’t. Toronto is already exploring the central market for an update with Andre Drummond reportedly in view. Cousins would be a decidedly cheaper option and one that would bring the offensive versatility that they tend to prefer in their big men.
The issue here would be defense. Toronto is not exactly known for the conservative schemes on which a player as physically limited as Cousins depends to survive. They switch. They blitz. They play in aggressive zones that are as effective as their slowest rotation. That would almost certainly be cousins. Nick Nurse is as adaptable as any basketball coach. If any coach can create a defense capable of covering his weaknesses without compromising the strengths of the rest of the Toronto squad, it is him.
But Toronto’s entire identity over the past few seasons has been based on each member of his rotation, both in defense and kick. They had to give a little out of necessity this season, but Cousins would take that to a new level. Desperate times may have required desperate measures a few weeks ago, but with the Raptors 8-3 in their last 11 games, they can afford to be a little more selective than they would be at the start of the season.
Golden State Warriors
In pure basketball terms, a return to the Warriors probably makes more sense for Cousins than returning to the Lakers. Golden State’s attack falls off a cliff every time Stephen Curry goes to the bank. With it, they score 113 points for 100 possessions. Without him? Only 100.6. They made up for it with excellent bank defense, but much of it is based on unsustainable shooting luck. Opponents are hitting 38 percent of their 3 with Curry on the floor and 34.7 percent without him. If any part of you thinks it might be Curry’s fault, remember that his minutes are largely tied to Draymond Green’s.
Eventually, opponents will regress to the average against the Golden State bank, and when that time comes, they could probably use a little more punch offensively. Cousins could provide that. He knows the system, and his pass can encourage movement outside the ball, which has been missing a lot without Curry and Draymond.
But if Golden State really wanted to keep Cousins in 2019, it probably could. After D’Angelo Russell’s signing and negotiation, there were concerns about hard capitalization, but Cousins could have fit if they had let Kevon Looney go. They did not, however, and when Looney returns from the injury, there is no reason to believe that Steve Kerr will remove him from the rotation. The same is true for James Wiseman. Its development is very important for the organization’s long-term perspective to be sacrificed for Cousins’ minutes. Play in the occasional small ball move, which has generally worked well for Golden State this season, and the Warriors may not have enough minutes to satisfy Cousins now.
There will be some speculation about Brooklyn as a destination for Cousins due to its relationship with Kevin Durant and its lack of size, but in purely basketball terms, it makes no sense. The small ball formations with Jeff Green as the nominal center are working. Brooklyn has more than enough firepower. Can they really afford another defensive responsibility? Especially one who doesn’t get along exactly with James Harden? Probably not. If Cousins is going for the big apple, the Knicks are the most likely landing place.
After all, they were not in the starting lineup for Mitchell Robinson, and their 24th attack needed a jolt even before their injury. Cousins has a relatively similar skill set to that of Julius Randle, the leading pitcher in New York, and can allow for some systemic consistency when he goes to the bank. There aren’t many centers capable of handling the ball, passing it and kicking it as well as Randle, but if his last handful of games is any indication, Cousins can get close within minutes. Although Tom Thibodeau has granted his most athletic centers the license to defend the perimeter, the Knicks are not a particularly smart defense. The cousins could handcuff themselves to the edge and survive in New York.
There is also the Kentucky connection to consider. The Knicks have four ex-Wildcats on the list, in addition to assistant coach Kenny Payne. This would probably have to be a short-term addition. When Robinson returns, there will be no minutes for him, Noel and Cousins. But in the meantime? Cousins makes some sense like Knick.