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It’s been a tough road for DeMarcus Cousins. He was once considered among the NBA’s elite players before an Achillies injury derailed his career. He’s failed to recapture his early career success and continues to bounce around the league. When the Los Angeles Lakers signed him in 2019, the hope was that he could rehabilitate his career on a good team. Unfortunately, he got hurt again and never played a game with the team.
He then went on to spend time with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers but didn’t receive long-term deals from either. Cousins is now going to try his shot with the reigning NBA champions as the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they’ve signed the former All-Star.
Starting center Brook Lopez hasn’t played a game since opening day as he deals with a back injury. He should return at some point but bringing in a veteran like Cousins makes a lot of sense. He can fill in for Lopez while he gets healthy and also provides good depth at the position. This may not be a long-term home for Cousins but there aren’t many better situations for the big man right now.
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Bucks GM Praises Cousins
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GettyDeMarcus Cousins.
The Bucks haven’t gotten to the best start but are now just 1.5 games out of the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 13-8 record. General manager Jon Horst believes that Cousins will help the team’s depth.
“DeMarcus is incredibly talented and his size, toughness and experience will help us,” Horst said. “He will provide added depth to our front court rotation and we look forward to working him into our system.”
Cousins will likely never reach the heights that he showed with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, but he’s still a capable center.
Anthony Davis Talks Playing Center
Speaking of centers, the Lakers have an issue at the position. The team is 11-11 and continues to start DeAndre Jordan despite calls for him to stop seeing playing time. When they traded for Russell Westbrook, the hope was that Anthony Davis would take over most of the minutes at center. That hasn’t been the case so far.
Davis has always preferred to play power forward but that hasn’t always been where he’s most effective. However, he’s leaving all decisions up to the coaching staff.
“I think my two threes came when DJ was at the 5 because I play on the perimeter, and let him be down there. We don’t want two bigs in the paint when these guys are attacking,” Davis said, via Silver Screen & Roll. “When I’m at the 5 … then Melo is usually the other guy out there who is spacing the floor. So it just all depends on what we’re looking for. I think both have helped us win games this year, and it’s up to coach to decide what he wants to continue to go with.”
Eventually, the Lakers may have to just put Davis at center full-time. The floor spacing is already bad enough with Davis and Westbrook being two of the worst shooters in the NBA. Putting Davis at center would open up the floor and require less shooting the two superstars.
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