DeMarcus Cousins Increases Velocity of Warriors Hate

While the doom and gloom for the rest of the NBA with the news that all NBA DeMarcus Cousins is signing with the Golden State Warriors…

The news that 2x all NBA second team (aka top 10 NBA player), C DeMarcus Cousins signed with the Golden State Warriors sent shockwaves across the sports media. There are real risks to this move for al

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“Boogie” Cousins reaction when no NBA teams made offers at the outset of Free Agency.

DeMarcus Cousins Signing Increases the Velocity of Warriors Hatred

The news that 2x all NBA second team (aka top 10 NBA player), C DeMarcus Cousins signed with the Golden State Warriors sent shockwaves across the sports media. The common theme was this removes all suspense in the 2018–2019 NBA season, we should just skip ahead to next June’s draft now.

While the doom and gloom of this news on the surface are obvious, Cousins is an incredibly talented “big” who when healthy and focused, is as good as any other “big” in the NBA (maybe sans his recent teammate Anthony Davis). He’s in his prime and became just one of 10 NBA players in history to average 25+ points per game, 10+ rebounds per game and 5+ assists in a game this past season.

However, there is a reason why no NBA team was interested in DeMarcus Cousins at the outset of free agency (Cousins has said he had “no offers”). He’s coming off a major Achilles tear and surgery this past January. History says it will take him a year to recover and there are valid arguments that Cousins will never regain his peak athletic ability. In addition, Cousins has a reputation for being surly and undisciplined as a teammate and performer. He’s never shown a yearning desire to be great at the defensive end of the floor and he’s a high usage, ball dominant offensive player.

Cousins signed with the Warriors because he likely views them as an opportunity to win, improve his league perception, a good fit for his skillset/role (4 all-stars lacking a “big”) and a team willing to give him the time to properly heal. Most of that is obvious.

The risks for the Warriors aren’t trivial. This is the greatest four year run of any team in NBA history. Adding an outspoken superstar to this group can have an adverse effect. Just looking at the basketball part, Cousins has never shown an ability to play in a motion offense and he’s used to being the alpha dog (at Kentucky, Sacramento and even in New Orleans sharing that responsibility w/ Anthony Davis). He’s no better than the third, likely the fourth scoring option (behind Duran, Curry, and Klay). Factor in the injury, there is a greater than zero percent chance “Boogie” Cousins doesn’t play at all next year. There is a greater than fifty percent chance he’s not a hundred percent at all next season.

The Warriors certainly shocked the NBA and will be the “winners” of the summer for most NBA pundits, but it’s not as cut and dry as Durant joining in ’16 or LeBron joining the Lakers this year. There are nuances to this and the probability it works out in the Warriors favor is far from a guarantee. Unfortunately for the rest of the NBA the Warriors took advantage of this opportunity and don’t have to count on it “working” out for them to three peat.