look around. we are in win-now mode. as evidenced by all the winning. it is in no way a contradiction to suggest that a guy who's coming off two major injuries--the latter of which typically has a fully year's recovery time--maybe not come back months early to disrupt chemistry on a 1st place team competing for a title. and it's not our "last best chance". we'll be contending again next year, probably with a better shot due to not getting jerked around by kawhi out of our prime FA targets (plus we'll be able to make trades). and we might have cousins at full strength, with a training camp under his belt.
Again if all we want is to be competitive... then mission accomplished. But we've all agreed that we are probably a piece or two away if the title is the goal. I said in my original post that I wouldn't do it if he didn't have proper medical clearance. If he does, then what's the problem? If he's chomping at the bit, overriding his doctor's advice then of course I wouldn't use him. But if he's cleared I would.
What’s “cleared”? Porzingis was cleared long before he played, but his team was much more cautious. For good reason. A guy coming off cousins’s injuries requires maximum caution, not rushing back. The ways in which he could help the Lakers won’t manifest themselves in a matter of weeks.
I don't like this; Dwight creates havoc with his defense and his ability to be a constant threat of PnR or off ball and he should be getting more minutes already without someone else trying to get C minutes The center rotation is already a strength and in the 4th quarters like against Denver your going to go either with AD or Dwight at the 5 to maximize your defense and cover up the weaknesses at the wing defender spot
Could be cleared for playoffs? Starting to feel like Vogel doesn't really think he will play for us this year but is saying all the right things to keep Cousins/AD happy.
Being clear to play is a doctor's opinion. We've seen players be cleared to play but you could tell they probably could use some more time to rehab or rest. Cousins ability to spread the floor and pass the ball gives us another combination to work with AD and LeBron. I do think Cousins can also play the 4 at times with Javale+Howard next season. I hope we can keep Howard+Cousins for next season. But his health is far more important and I just don't see how he can insert himself into the lineup without any practice time. The best option would be to let Cousins get healthy and come back next season on a minimum vet. I doubt he gets more than that for another team and the Lakers have showed just how much we like Cousins by including him in everything.
he'll get paid more than the minimum I think, but ESPECIALLY if he's healthy. If the difference between getting paid 2 million vs 6-8 million a year next year is dependent upon me playing for 10 games in the playoffs, you can bet I'm lacing them up. MILLIONS are on the line, and he doesn't strike me as a saver. He's playing if he's capable.
He's only getting $3.5 million this season which is just slightly above the vet minimum. I doubt he gets a contract higher than that and even if he does, which team has shown him more loyalty than the rest? Playing with Bron and AD would help Cousins get his game back and hopefully have an impact + earn himself a better contract.
cousins looked like an absolute shell of his old self in the finals last year with GS what makes anyone think he'll actually make a difference now coming off a second major injury?
For what it's worth, he was injured in the playoffs as well but played through it. The consensus seems to be that Cousins is just too big and needs to drop his weight. For the minimum, we would have nothing to lose... I actually enjoy his presence on the bench and you can tell the players do as well.
I actually disagree. For a guy who rushed back from what looked like a serious quad injury, I thought he was pretty effective in limited minutes. The ACL injury might be too much at this point, but I was impressed by his energy and commitment to the team coming back from the quad for the Finals.
I agree. And anyone who thought he would look like the cousins of old in that series was fooling themselves. lets see how he looks when he isn't rushed back. we still haven't seen a truly healthy cousins in close to 3 years now
That's going to up to our trainers and coaching staff to protect him from himself, if he's not ready. From what we've seen and from that interview, I think he'd rather retire this summer because of injury with a ring he helped get than play another 5-10 years without one. I definitely think we have a damn good chance of keeping him. The way he talked about AD, Dwight, Bron, and Handy; I think Rob's loyalty to him during this process makes of the favourites for his services next season. I don't want to lose any of McGee/ Dwight/ Boogie. Keeping them together preserves them, keeps them healthy, and you can run 2 bigs the entire game with proper subbing. And no one can handle a front court like that.
