DeMarcus Cousins has returned to the NBA and how. Boogie put in two good shifts for the Warriors in the last two games, giving the NBA a glimpse of how the Warriors could line up and perform during the business end of the season.
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The Warriors could field a starting 5 of 5 All-Stars, a luxury that only Steve Kerr has in the NBA at the moment.
Boogie has been in high spirits since his return, having missed almost an entire year due to an Achilles injury, one that he suffered during a game against the Rockets last year in January.
Cousins needed to recover from his Achilles injury and not a lot of franchises want to take the risk of recruiting him, as confirmed by Cousins during an interview with The Athletic recently.
The Warriors decided to take the gamble and got him into their side for a $5.2 million, one year contract.
Cousins would thus hit free agency next season and could be on his way out, as a couple of months earlier, Kerr had conceded that Warriors might not have the required funds to re-sign Cousins next season.
Now, the Lakers have been desperately trying to get a couple of superstars to LA, to help LeBron build the dynasty that he ‘deserves’.
But in order to have that, Lakers need to convince a few high profile free agents that playing with LeBron wouldn’t be much of a problem, as highlighted by a couple of superstars(KD and Kyrie).
Anthony Davis has been high on the priority list for the Lakers, but from the looks of it, AD doesn’t favour a move to the Lakers.
Now, with Davis almost out of the equation, LeBron and the Lakers could turn to DeMarcus Cousins, if he goes onto play well for the Warriors in the remainder of the season.
LeBron is a massive DeMarcus fan and thus could ask the Lakers management to pursue Cousins during free agency.
“If the Lakers give up on Davis and their top choices in free agency (such as Kawhi Leonard, Durant and Thompson) go elsewhere, they would have to change gears,” reports Eric Pincus from Bleacher Report.
“If Cousins returns to his past form, they may prioritize him over other potential targets like Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Nikola Vucevic, Marc Gasol and Khris Middleton.
“Before Cousins signed with the Warriors, former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said James is a big fan of the way Cousins plays basketball.” he added.
Now, the Warriors can reportedly pay him just $6.4 million next season, something that isn’t going to be enough for him, especially if he is healthy and in form going into the next season.
Thus, Cousins would be looking to move away from the Warriors, especially if GSW land an NBA title this season.
And LA could be a very attractive location for Cousins, as he could bag a big contract and also have a shot at the NBA title with LeBron James next season.
