Getty DeMarcus Cousins with Anthony Davis.
The 2019-2020 NBA season is in doubt because of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert getting diagnosed with COVID-19. At the very least, the league will be on a 30-day suspension while they get their ducks in a row. This whole situation can be perceived as a blow for the Los Angeles Lakers as they were red hot before the suspension happened.
It’s hard to say right now how much this suspension will hurt or help the Lakers, but there is a silver lining. If the NBA comes back in a month or two and picks up where it left off, that means bringing back DeMarcus Cousins could be a real option. He was recently cut by the team in February to make room for the Markieff Morris signing.
He didn’t play a game with the team all season thanks to injury, but there was hope he’d be back in time for the playoffs. That clearly didn’t end up happening and it appeared he was going to take the rest of the season off to get back to full strength and attempt a major comeback next season. Now that the NBA playoffs could end up going as late as August, Cousins could get back to full strength by that time. He was not on a roster by the March 1 deadline, so he should be eligible to sign with a playoff team before the postseason begins. It’s still a long shot, but the Lakers clearly like him and he clearly likes the Lakers. If he feels like he’s good to go, it’s definitely a move the team should consider.
Any Chance Darren Collison Changes His Mind?
The NBA’s time off could also lead to retired guard Darren Collison to reevaluate his stance on retirement. The Lakers tried hard to get him to come out of retirement after they didn’t make any trades at the trade deadline, but he decided to hold off until the offseason to make a decision.
Well, now the offseason will likely be delayed greatly and the NBA is going to have to figure a lot of things out. Perhaps Collison gets the extra time off and realizes he wants to come back to play for his hometown team. If the Lakers were able to get him before the playoffs, that could give them the edge that they need over the Clippers in a seven-game series.
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Will Hiatus Be Good or Bad for Lakers?
It remains to be seen if a break will be good or bad for Los Angeles. They were hot and just beat two of the NBA’s best team, but are an older team and the extra rest could be good to help them recover. LeBron James is 35 and taking a month or so off before the playoffs could do wonders for his body.
This is an unprecedented moment in modern sports and many leagues are still trying to figure out how to go about everything. The safety of everybody in the NBA takes precedent over playing basketball games, so they aren’t going to rush back to action. The Lakers will just have to adapt to whatever happens in the future.
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