DeMarcus Cousins had a chance to secure a bigger contract than what he agree to with the Golden State Warriors even after his season-ending Achilles injury, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (h/t Mason Ginsberg of ESPN).
Per @TheSteinLine's @nytimes newsletter: “League sources say that Cousins rebuffed New Orleans' offer of a two-year contract extension in the $40M range after the injury but before the season ended. When that offer was declined, sources say, New Orleans took it off the table.”
As what the world learned Monday night, Cousins instead bit on the Golden State Warriors’ mid-level exception offer worth only of a paltry $5.3 million for a year. The deal with the Warriors is criminally way below of Cousins’ actual value, but the big man seemed determined to spite the rest of the league by signing with the Warriors after not receiving significant offers.
DeMarcus Cousins was having a terrific year last season for the New Orleans Pelicans until getting ambushed by a serious Achilles injury late last January in a game against the Houston Rockets. In 48 games last season, Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. He also shot 47.0 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from behind the arc.
Had Cousins accepted the reported extension deal with the Pelicans, he would have denied himself of a chance to go after a max contract next year – something that his one-year agreement with the Warriors has set him up for.
Boogie is not expected to play right away when the 2018-19 season, though Golden State certainly could survive even without the center.