NBA veteran DeMarcus Cousins will spend another offseason trying to find a new team.
After his seven-year stint in Sacramento where Cousins performed for the Kings, he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2016-2017 NBA season in a deal that included Kings Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and several landed draft picks.
Cousins continued to produce big numbers in New Orleans for the remainder of the 2016-2017 season and during his first full year with the Pelicans. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 2017-2018 season that would change his career prospects.
Cousins returned to the court with the Golden State Warriors in 2018-2019. After 30 games, another serious injury kept Cousins off the floor for a while.
After ending his lonely season with the Warriors, Cousins joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, a cruciate ligament rupture halted his Lakers debut, which never came. The following year, Cousins landed with the Houston Rockets. His stint in Houston lasted 25 games before being overturned.
Around this time, Cousins was considered a possible pickup by the Philadelphia 76ers. A relationship between Cousins and the Sixers never materialized, and he eventually ended up with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he finished the year.
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Last season, Cousins started his season with the Milwaukee Bucks in late November. After 17 games, he was waived and eventually picked up by the Denver Nuggets. As the 2022-2023 season draws closer, Cousins is available again and in search of its ninth franchise.
Andy Bailey from Bleacher report recently suggested that the Philadelphia 76ers should be the ones who should give Cousins another chance.
The case for cousins
“Like Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins may need to fill a small role and minimum veteran contract to stay in the league, but he showed a willingness to do both in 2021-22. …
“Cousins could have a similar stabilizing effect as Jokic’s main competitor, Joel Embiid, gaining strength.”
Cousins’ name carried a lot of value when the former fifth overall pick played for the Kings and the Pelicans. Nowadays it’s trying to prove that it can be an affordable, valuable backup.
The Sixers could very well add an experienced big man starting minutes behind Joel Embiid. Over the past two seasons, the Sixers have added players like Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan to fill that role.
But as third-year hybrid center Paul Reed and sophomore great Charles Bassey improve in value, the Sixers are hoping one of the youngsters behind Embiid can be trusted.
If either or both are struggling to convince Doc Rivers that they are reliable early in camp, the Sixers could certainly investigate Cousins, who are averaging eight points and five rebounds from Denver’s bench for 31 regular seasons and five postseasons -Games scored last year.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter for live updates: @JGrasso_.
