Bringing Cousins back is a no-brainer. But I would say just out of abundance of caution - you gotta have 4 centers on the roster in case of injury. We were lucky to be pretty healthy majority of the season last year - I am not sure we will have that same luck next year. Having Cousins, McGee and Dwight will also be great insurance for AD. But Cousins will be had for the minimum and that is exactly why he's worth the risk. Like others have said - Dwight likely gets some nice offers and it'll be tough for him to pass that up. He had one heck of a comeback season and I think he might be ready to take on a bigger role elsewhere.
i don't know. i think two centers is fine if you have davis. then you need an end of the bench 4/5--either a vet for a prospect--in case of multiple injuries. the way the game's played now, you only need about 20mpg of traditional center play. cousins and either mcgee or howard, or a tristan thompson or similar would be fine. i wouldn't rule out keeping antetekounpo as the wildcard spot, either. but this is the cousins thread, and i think both parties should be interested in one more round.
Yes, that's why I think it would be banned soon, also. LeBron used it with McGee and Howard several times this season and was just unstoppable.
right--the second part of that action has been against the rules forever. the refs just hadn't seen it systematically deployed. i guess exploit it until they stop it, but they should stop it. unless they want portland to go 82-0.
Demarcus Cousins is D.O.N.E. Let it go guys. Half his leg has been shredded. He doesn't play defense, he is an offensive player. He would get murdered on pick and rolls and he won't likely last a full season plus the playoffs. Torn Quad, torn ACL, torn Achilles. One of those injuries and your career is already in jeopardy. He has all THREE. Lakers need to bring back Howard if they can. And McGee plays his roll perfectly during the regular season. If you can't get those guys back, replace them with similar talent that know their role and can play defense and score on the occasional lobs. Lakers are a fast break team who are lethal on the run. Keep it that way.
Yeah I don’t love the idea of Cousins coming back as a replacement to anyone. In addition to McGee (or someone comparable) and Dwight, ok, sure, but not as a replacement. We almost went into last season with just Cousins and McGee and that could have been disastrous, but his injury happened with enough time for us to still add Dwight before the season started and honestly that probably saved our season, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Dwight’s energy and defense changed this team’s bench unit and made our depth a real thing. We need to have multiple bigs that can share the spot and keep AD from having to play that spot too much, he may be best at the position, but I think him playing the style he does actually helps somewhat in him avoiding injury.
I'm all for bringing him back for our 3 headed monster. But in no other role but that. All 3 could use each other regardless of what their agents tell them.
This! I'm all for bringing Cousins back, but not relying on him. If he ends up recovering and being a contributor, fantastic! But if not, no harm. I think we have at least 4 roster slots up for grabs regardless on if all our top players come back or not, so I'm good with taking the chance on using one on Cousins.
Cousins is found money. No need to count on him, but if he's fully rehabbed like he says he is, then we have a scoring big for whenever AD sits. For sure sign DH back though as the starter. If we keep McGee too I'm not complaining.
maybe i'm being pollyanna, but i think he's got something left in the tank. i suppose we can worry he's a big injury risk, but then you focus on trying to make sure the other center on the roster is durable. to me--unless you've got a superstar c like jokic or embiid, you shouldn't need to spend a lot to shore up that position--especially when you already employ AD, who should play center for like, 25mpg.
I'm saying we should get Cousins no matter what happens with Dwight. It's better to have him than to let some other team like say the Clippers get him. We stuck by him even with his injury - so I think he deserves a shot with this roster especially if we lose Dwight. But even if we brought back Dwight I would still have him on teh roster
Agreed. He's not going to get paid after all those injuries and on a min contract, he's basically the definition of low risk high reward. There's always some room at the end of the bench and if he can stay healthy, he'd fit in just great.
He’s probably choosing to strategically exit the real estate market during a volatile time. If he’s getting advice about the future that isn’t rosie, he may want to liquidate before he’s stuck with a property he can’t live in.
