The Golden State Warriors stunned the NBA world this summer by signing All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins. Adding a big man of his caliber to the two-time defending NBA champions doesn’t seem fair to most — but it’s worth remembering that Cousins is still recovering from the Achilles injury that halted his season with the New Orleans Pelicans in late January.
Cousins recently told ESPN’s Marc J. Spears that he’s shooting to return by training camp in late September. Whenever he does step back on the court, the Warriors will have an almost unprecedented collection of talent featuring two MVPs (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry), three career 20-point scorers (Durant, Curry, Cousins), another career 19-point scorer (Klay Thompson) and a Defensive Player of the Year (Draymond Green) with 27 All-Star appearances between them, all under the age of 30.
For Warriors GM Bob Myers, the long-term goal — Cousins contributing in the 2019 playoffs — is what matters most. He said as much yesterday, writes Mark Medina of The Mercury News:
“The goal for us is to have him in the playoffs,” Myers said at halftime of the Warriors’ 87-81 summer-league win on Sunday over the Houston Rockets. “That doesn’t mean we’ll wait until the playoffs. When he’s ready to play, he’ll play. We just don’t know when that will be.”
The Warriors might have some clarity soon.
Myers said that Cousins plans to get reevaluated later this month on his progress since sustaining the injury with the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 26 against Houston. Shortly after the Warriors agreed to a deal with Cousins last Monday, Cousins told The Undefeated he planned to return in time for training camp in late September. Shortly after signing his contract in Las Vegas on Friday, though, Cousins changed his message that fits more with what the Warriors want.
“I think the surgery is anywhere from eight to ten months from the time you have it,” Myers said. “For us, it won’t be, ‘We need you to get out there tonight. It’ll be ramping it up slowly. You can’t really tell with a guy until they get on the court and does certain things.”
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The Warriors did not immediately dismiss concerns about Cousins’ injury, though, when his representatives contacted Myers last Monday. Myers said his camp allowed the Warriors to look into Cousins’ medical records.
The Warriors lost free-agent center JaVale McGee to the Los Angeles Lakers on July 1 and fellow backup big man/free-agent Zaza Pachulia is reportedly headed to the Detroit Pistons. That leaves second-year center Jordan Bell and third-year center Damian Jones in line for the lion’s share of center minutes while Cousins mends.
The Warriors are expected to re-sign restricted free agent Patrick McCaw and add forward Jonas Jerebko, who was waived by the Utah Jazz recently. In addition, they drafted guard/forward Jacob Evans and reportedly reached a deal to keep fourth-year forward Kevon Looney.
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