DeMarcus Cousins struck gold when he shocked the NBA world and brought the entire league on its knees when he signed with the Golden State Warriors for one-year, $5.3 million. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news, as usual, reminding all the other teams how far they are from catching up to the Warriors.
Cousins and his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, seemed to be far apart in negotiations and he may have become expendable after they signed Los Angeles Lakers restricted free agent Julius Randle to a contract. Rather than sign with either the Lakers or the Boston Celtics, two other teams that were vying for his services, Cousins decided to go ahead and jump ship to the Warriors and this was a wise decision for him at this point in his career.
With Cousins on board, the Warriors boast perhaps the best starting five in league annals when they hit the court together sometime in the middle of the 2018-19 season when he returns from the injury.
The team can field in an All-Star lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Cousins, all of them All-Stars last season though the 6-foot-11 center was sidelined by an Achilles injury that kept him from playing in the NBA’s midseason classic.
Cousins’ Injury
In late January, Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon that prevented him from playing another game in both the regular season and the playoffs. At the time, he was playing the best basketball of his career, averaging MVP-type numbers with 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. The rebounds, assists and steals were either career-highs or tied for a career-high.
As good as those numbers are, players who have gone through a similar injury have never been the same after coming back.
SB Nation’s Tim Cato researched on the number of players that went through an Achilles injury in recent years.
“According to a 2013 medical study that identified 18 players who suffered major Achilles injuries over a 23-year span (1988-2011), seven players never returned to the league. Players who returned missed an average of 56 games and saw their PER decline in their first and second seasons back. A 2015 CBS Sports article found that among 14 players who returned from Achilles injuries since 1992, they averaged fewer minutes while both their field goal and three-point percentages dropped, on average. There are very few complete success stories.
That’s the uphill battle Cousins — and the Warriors — are facing. That’s why he was available for just $5.3 million next season.”
Aiming for ‘Nique
Notable players who have gone through an Achilles injury are Rudy Gay, Brandon Jennings, Chauncey Billups, Elton Brand, Kobe Bryant and Dominique Wilkins.
Among these players, only Wilkins had come back to play at an All-Star level. As Cato noted in his research, the Human Highlight Reel thrived for two years before showing any sort of decline in his game.
“No player has ever recovered to the same level that Wilkins did after a torn Achilles. Across Wilkins’ next two seasons, he averaged 28 points and nearly seven rebounds per game on 45 percent shooting. His numbers declined the next year, but Wilkins also turned 35 — it was going to happen eventually.”
Wilkins averaged 29.9 points, shooting 46.8 percent from the field after coming back from the injury in the 1992-93 season. He appeared in two NBA All-Star Games and played seven seasons after the injury. He’s the player that has been the inspiration for others on how they can recover and play better than ever despite the devastating injury. Unfortunately, no one else has come close to Wilkins’ productivity since, not even recently retired Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant.
Cousins wants to come back strong next season and if Wilkins can do it, his mindset should be that he can do it, too. The 27-year old center is young enough and motivated enough to make it work.
Proving Doubters Wrong
There’s no question that one of Cousins’ motivation to play well next season is he wants to prove his doubters wrong. After he went down with the injury, the Pelicans struggled at the beginning but eventually found their groove thanks to teammate Anthony Davis who played his way into MVP nomination with a dominant last three months of the season. They also made it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
The injury to Cousins galvanized the Pelicans into playing well for their injured teammate. However, some may have considered that the team played better simply because they were rid of a big man that took away from Davis’ personal growth.
Whatever the case may be, Cousins wasn’t as necessary to their success as it had appeared when they traded for him during the 2017 All-Star Game.
In order to show everyone that he’s still one of the best, if not the best, big men in the game, Cousins needs to be free of the pressure to play at a high level when he returns to the court which is between this December and January of next year.
Questions surrounded his health in free agency which is why the Pelicans decided to offer Randle a contract instead. In response, Cousins decided to sign with the Warriors because it was a chance for him not only to play for a team defending its championship, he could take his time recovering and he would not be rushed into playing immediately. The Warriors’ title hopes don’t rest on his shoulders, relieving him of the burden to perform at an All-Star level from the get-go.
Playing for a Bigger Contract
By agreeing to the one-year contract with the Warriors, he is essentially betting on himself to play at a level where he can receive a max contract the following year. Cousins was never going to get a deal that he was happy with anyway with the injury becoming a talking point every time he has discussions with interested teams.
If he comes back and plays well during the playoffs and into the Finals, perhaps even win the Finals MVP, then that sets Cousins up for a huge max payday next summer.
Going to the Warriors allows Cousins to risk but not risk too much. It’s a win-win situation for him as he also has the chance to win his first-ever championship the same way that Durant won his first in Golden State. It may not be fair for the rest of the league but in Cousins’ case, it’s a wise decision for him to go this route.
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