Stop Overreacting About the Warriors Signing DeMarcus Cousins
The NBA world shit themselves when Demarcus Cousins signed with the Golden State Warriors late at night on July 2nd. Cousins signed a 5.3 million dollar mid-level exception with them. I’ll admit that like most I was shook when I saw Shams tweet the signing. I spent an hour or so being depressed about the NBA being “ruined”, but then I sat and thought to myself how Demarcus Cousins to the Warriors isn’t as huge a deal as we think.
Demarcus Cousins is out until December/January
I saw wild tweets saying no way the Warriors win less than 75 games. First of all, Boogie Cousins is missing at the very least 25 games and could be up towards missing 50 games. So, breaking their own single season wins record is not going to happen. Then, once Cousins is back the Warriors will have to figure out their playstyle with him there. You can’t just toss a player like Boogie into the fold and expect to be able to keep everything the same. Last season, he and Durant got into a scuffle on the court which leads me to believe that egos might finally become an issue in Golden State. Chemistry will not come easy to these guys.
The Injury could Change Cousins Forever
This past January, Cousins suffered an awful torn achilles injury. The achilles injuries have a very horrid history for players. First, Elton Brand went from averaging 20.3ppg and 10rpg before the injury to averaging 9.9ppg and 6rpg after the injury. Brand’s injury occurred at the age of 28 which is the same age Cousins suffered his injury. Also, at the age of 28 Christian Laettner suffered his achilles injury. He went from averaging 16.6ppg and 8rpg before the injury to averaging 8.5ppg and 5rpg afterwards. Not saying Cousins will suffer the same fate as these guys, but big men with lower body injuries is always nervous.
Demarcus Cousins will only be with Golden State 1 Season
There is absolutely no way he’s gonna sign for only 5 million again after this coming season. He signed for such a small amount probably for a few reasons. To start, he probably wants to get a ring and the Warriors are the favorites. Getting a ring is huge for anyone’s legacy and if he can make a difference on a championship winning team, that’ll help his legacy immensely. Next, no other team gave him any offers. I’m sure most teams were afraid of signing a guy going through rehab for such a horrendous injury. Once nobody reached out to him, he decided he would reach out to the best team and see if it would work out. It did. Finally, this upcoming season is going to be a “prove myself” season for Cousins. He wants to absolutely ball out on his small contract with a good team and cash out a year from now. If somehow Cousins resigns with the Warriors next season, Klay and Draymond are both gone.
Overview
Next season, if Boogie comes back and plays almost as good as he has before, things may suck. Things will only suck for next season if that is the case though. He will leave in next year’s free agency for max dollars. If he stays, that Warriors core that has created all of that success gets broken up. Things will only be terrible for a year at most. I promise people. We’re all just overreacting, and things will be okay.
-Brandon Black (Follow @bhblack02)