Getty DeMarcus Cousins speaks with Kevin Durant during a 2018 Warriors game.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was very honest in his assessment of DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins, and his hopeful return to the court. The good news is Cousins has begun to practice with the team, but the downside is the Warriors big man is not close to returning to game action.
“Conditioning-wise he’s still got a ways to go,” Kerr told ESPN. “I love how far he’s come, but I don’t want people to get the idea that he’s getting close to coming back. It’s still going to be some time. It’s a totally different deal playing in an NBA game and playing against [assistant coaches] Willie [Green] and Chris DeMarco.”
The team has not released a timeline for Cousins to return, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported when Cousins first signed with Golden State that it could be January 2019 before the big man played again. Here’s some footage of Cousins practicing with the Warriors.
Steve Kerr Called DeMarcus Cousins a “One-Year Rental”
Kerr was surprisingly honest on Cousins’ status beyond this year and admitted the big man is a “one-year rental.” Kerr also went as far as saying Cousins would be playing on another team in 2019.
“We made no bones about it when we signed him,” Kerr noted to ESPN. “It’s a one-year deal. We’re not going to have money to sign him next year, he knows that. So we’d like him to help us win a championship. We’d like to be able to help him get a great contract next year somewhere else. That’s the reality. So the best way to do that is to play really well and enjoy this season and everybody do the best we can and have fun with it.”
Former Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis has already begun his recruitment for the two big men to reconnect.
“He will be a free agent next year,” Davis told The Undefeated. “Hopefully, down the line we can reconnect…I tried to call our GM. He said he had no idea. I tried to call ‘Cuz’ [Cousins], but something happened with his phone. It sucked that it happened. But life goes on… I know the situation [Cousins] was in. He had to make a business move for him and his family. He had to do what was best for his career. You can’t do nothing but respect it.”
Steph Curry noted that Cousins’ presence at practice is already helping the team bring energy each day.
“I know he’s just eager to go out there and play,” Curry explained ESPN. “We all know he’s just chirping at the bit. I feel like what he’s been able to do in practice hasn’t been substantial, but I think he’s playing [in] live action [situations] and ramping it up so I don’t know how long it’s going to take for him to take the next steps and whatnot but just having him out there, having him be part of practice is huge for us and huge for his morale I’m sure. And it’s another step in the right direction.”