DeMarcus Cousins‘ diminished mobility, brought on by back-to-back Achilles and ACL injuries, is behind the Rockets‘ decision to cut ties with him in the next few days, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Cousins had been filling the role the team envisioned when it signed him, Iko adds, serving as a backup to starting center Christian Wood and spacing the offense while playing in short bursts. However, an ankle injury that has kept Wood off the court since February 4 pushed Cousins into a starting role that he wasn’t ready to handle.
Coach Stephen Silas is working to build a defensive identity in his first season in Houston, and Cousins’ inability to cover ground was getting in the way. With Cousins defending, opponents were shooting an incredible 63.4% on shots from six feet and closer.
Silas liked Cousins and the veteran presence he brought to the locker room, Iko writes. Several young players sought advice from him, especially rookie Jae’Sean Tate. But Cousins’ inability to handle more minutes convinced the team that it needs to go in a different direction at center.
There’s more on the Cousins situation:
- The Rockets will be forced to re-run last year’s small-ball experiment until Wood is ready to return, Iko notes in the same story. Justin Patton, who signed a two-way deal on Friday, could see some playing time, and Houston will consider the free agent market, with Dewayne Dedmon and Ersan Ilyasova as possibilities.
- The Lakers will be among the teams to pursue Cousins, sources tell Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer (Twitter link). He adds that sources expect the market for Cousins to be limited because of his struggles so far, but the 30-year-old offers significant upside for any team that needs depth in the frontcourt. Cousins signed with the Lakers last season, but wasn’t able to play because of an ACL injury.
- Cousins would consider joining the Heat if he reaches free agency, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. A source confirms Cousins’ interest.
- The Raptors could use help at center, but Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports doesn’t expect them to make a play for Cousins (Twitter link). He notes that Toronto opted to sign Aron Baynes and Alex Len during the offseason when Cousins was available.
Lakers…
Brooklyn Nets
Why..
Heat
Expectation is sky high for a vet min player
Why guarantee his contract?
to show appreciation to a vet that tried.
So what he tried it’s about what can he do NOW
Maybe they liked that he took issue with Harden publicly.
@Sillivan… One must think that they guaranteed his contract ’cause he exceeded their expectations, right?
So Cousins was about to have his contract guaranteed by the rox then they vetoed their decision??? Hmm. Lakers the likely destination…
No they already guaranteed his contract yesterday. But whether they trade him or someone claims him off waivers if they are forced to cut him, he won’t count against their salary cap either way. I was a gesture of good will on the part of the team so there would be no hard feelings when he departs.
Oh okay.it sounded suspect to hear his contract was being guaranteed, then all of a sudden parting ways… It’s a funny thing about irony… He wasn’t fully healthy when the lakers cut him, now he’s healthy and AD got hurt. Cousins is now an asset…
Do they not know their pick is protected 1-4? If hes not helping them win… they keep that pick. Right now it conveys. They won’t be good enough for it to not convey.
GSW will grab him.
No they won’t. The first sentence says he’s a stiff. He wouldn’t fit in with Warriors defense.
I really hope so, he is the size they need and can also mentor James Wiseman
Toronto makes sense imo.
Why does Toronto make sense? Toronto is not having trouble scoring points. They are having trouble defending the paint. Boogie makes any defensive issues that you have …… twice as bad because he is now that bad defensively.
They have less trouble defending the paint than they have scoring in clutch time. They have schemes to defend the paint fairly well, but rebounding is where they need more strength. Bigger stronger players needed, which Cousins theoretically is — yet the way he has played I’m not sure there is any facet of the game where you look at Cousins as improving any good team. He is that bad now overall.
He is only that bad now overall if you’re comparing him to the player he was in his prime before all the injuries. He can still score and rebound pretty well, it’s his defense that’s the big problem.
He can score and rebound pretty well? *checks notes* I guess he’s rebounding pretty well, but a .376 FG% does not spell a guy who can score well. Not at all.
Classic change of scenario candidate
Toronto makes no sense bro, they got 2 better centers on the team.
Who are these two better centres? Baynes is pretty useless on offense and defense and Boucher isn’t really a centre. Cousins would be an upgrade on Baynes – he can actually finish at the basket.
miami or lakers…
5 worst FG% defensive centers w/in 6 ft of the basket
1. Marjanovic 68.2%
2. Kanter 66.5%
3. Pokusevski 65.5%
4. Cousins 63.4%
5. Adams 63.1%
For prospective, Gobert and Brook Lopez are at 48.6%. Gasol of LAL is 57.7%
Houston as a team is 9th in defense from <6 ft so the question is by dumping Cousins who takes his place? In addition, Houston ranked 4th in opp pts per 100 poss while the offense is ranked is ranked 26th in pts per 100 possessions. Weird to focus in on Cousins defense as a big drag on the team’s success. Plus he earns only $2.3M so a bargain for the minutes. Hope he finds another place to get a 2nd 2nd chance.
Christian Wood will take his place when he comes back, which should hopefully be in a week or so. And they also signed Justin Patton who can be the backup for Wood once he returns to the starting lineup. They also like to use a small-ball lineup a few minutes every game, which they will be forced to use a lot more until Wood is back in his starting role.
Cousins is on his fourth chance approximately.
Nobody ‘needs” a center that cannot defend. Cousins hasn’t defended well on years.
Centers that can only waive their arms at drivers do not help their teams that much.
Has Adams been as bad for that long?— lol does GM Griffin know this?
The Celtics should sign Cousins… sure he may not work out and might wind up being a defensive liability BUT they need a BIG bodied center and signing him would be low risk and allow them to focus their TPE $ on a 6th man type. Like I said maybe it doesn’t work out and he really is more limited than I think… but they need to try something so why not take a low risk flier on Cousins?
One of their biggest problems is Defense so sure bring in one of the biggest liabilities right now come on now think smart if the rest of the players played like the did last yr the I would love for them to sign him but D, leadership and a big is what they need and you only get one of this with him
Celtics need bench scoring badly. He might be worth a look. Besides Tatum, Brown and Kemba who can you count on to score? They should cut Teague and give Cousins a look.
I would rather see that time go to R. Williams over Cousins unless you’re dropping TT in a a trade or release then this trade is useless because it doesn’t really add anything but a high profile name if Williams players more then I believe it’s even between the two
This is juss insane on so many levels the C’s are strugglin on D & are witout Smart so yes let’s sign a defensive liability player to not HELP us but make us WORSE ♂️
Anywhere but San Antonio …
The Lakers for sure need help at the center position. Many games we get killed inside. We need what Dwight Howard gave us last year. So the question would be can Cousins help us defensively inside? With rebounds, blocked shots, intimidation? I’m not as sure one way or the other as most of you because I haven’t been watching him play this year. I know when we were putting this year’s team together we didn’t try very hard to keep him, if we even wanted to. Gasol, to me, has been disappointing. I think we need to add someone, but is Boogie the right someone?
I like how you had to stretch outttt tooo intimidation…
I think he could give LAL a little of that at least, I cant imagine he would be worse than Gasol but I have not seen him play too many mins this year as well. I never imagined id miss Javale McGee so much, strange times
Yea Gasol has been disappointin he had like one good game this season for the Lakers, he should average 15 a game which is easy for him he has so many moves & a actual jumpshot
Like I said when Rockets signed him. He needs to get healthy. And has to learn to be a backup. If he can give 20-24 mins of solid ball. He can be very valuable. Rockets are trying to see if he is old Cousins. He’s never going to be that. A good thing I saw. He came in with less weight. Watching him, his legs need to get stronger. He wants a career it’s as a good backup big. He can still give you offense. He needs to heal and get right. Then accept the backup role. And he can play for long time. You have to load manage with him. Rockets are not interested in that. They were praying he could be more. Oh Well ….
None of these options they mention are any better. Should’ve just kept Cousins until an actual decent option presented itself
Miami is the right situation for him if they have mutual interest.
I think it has a 50/50 shot at working out there for Cuz. They demnad physical accountability more so than other teams (so they say) & if Cuz buys in to that, it could be a good thing.
He may not & that would not work. Adebayo can be on the floor at the same time also.
His almost-stint with the Lakers did not end acrimoniously; was only an understandable numbers crunch. He’d probably effectively eat Gasol’s time at the very least with a performance bump on crutches.
Really hoping the Warriors sign him. He is the size they need and can 100% mentor James Wiseman along the way.
Might be worth a try, he knows the system.
I’ve been telling my buddy Boogie looks slow AF. I’ve probably even said it here. He looks more Mo ‘Buckets’ Speights than Mo Speights. He’s slow bc he’s not in shape. I think he looks in great shape last year going into the season, not this year.