By Jordan Long
NBA free agency is well under way. Franchises have agreed to around $2.7 billion in contracts so far to free agents. That number will go up once other athletes agree to deals. One player who isn’t getting attention is DeMarcus Cousins. Franchises are shying away from the center.
Cousins is a veteran center. He has played in the NBA for 9 years. Cousins can play both sides of the floor. On offense, he sets up down low near the basket. Cousins grabs rebounds to put them back up for points. He can also pass the ball to his teammates to setup the play again. Cousins averages 21.2 points, 2.8 offensive rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his career to this point.
On defense, Cousins blocks shots from opponents who drive into the lane. When that happens, those could start fast break points. He doesn’t permit the opposition to come down with the rebounds and he ends second chance opportunities. Cousins averages 1.2 blocks and 8.1 defensive rebounds. Looking at those stats, it is perplexing why there isn’t a market for him at this point.
Cousins’ problem is staying healthy and teams are shying away from him because of that. He hasn’t played a full NBA season in two years. Last season he suited up in 30 games for Golden State. Cousins missed most of the year recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon that happened January 26th, 2018. It was clear he wasn’t the same player when he returned to the lineup and it showed. Cousins was a tad slower and couldn’t play defense as well.
Heading into free agency, Cousins was hoping to receive a call from a team. He has not yet. According to NBCsports.com, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski said, “There’s not a market for [DeMarcus Cousins]. I think he hoped that some big market teams would strike out, they’d have cap space and he could get a one-year, $12M, $15M, $18M, $20 million deal. That’s not happening. The mid-level exception he got in Golden State last year? I don’t think that’s there.”
Cousins may have to wait a while before a team calls. He might have to take a 1-year deal that is worth $4 or $5 million but it could be less than that. Franchises aren’t going to pay more for him just because Cousins has yet to prove he is 100% healthy. If it isn’t this summer, it could be just prior to training camp before he is on a team. 0===new RegEx
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