DeMarcus Cousins – Free Agent
With DeMarcus Cousins being waived by the Houston Rockets, he is currently a free agent and available to sign with any team in the league. Given his major injury history over the last few seasons, not many teams will likely be willing to take a chance on Cousins, but the Lakers should look to bring him back to Los Angeles because they have nothing to lose in this scenario.
If Cousins is not productive for them, then they can either waive him again or let his minimum contract run out for the remainder of the year. They still have Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell in their frontcourt is not a total loss in Cousins joins this Lakers team and does nothing for them.
The Lakers could be interested in a reunion with DeMarcus Cousins to not only keep him from going to other championship teams, but to fill an immediate need in their frontcourt. This has already been mentioned in NBA rumors as a possibility. He is not the All-Star center or double-double machine he once was, but DeMarcus Cousins was averaging 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this year before being waived by Houston.
Not only are those numbers better than Marc Gasol’s, but those numbers would make him the 6th best scorer on the Lakers and their third best rebounder outside of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Cousins was with the Lakers during the 2019-20 season, but suffered a torn ACL and never appeared in a game for them.
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This could be his second-chance to wear the purple and gold and even when AD returns, DeMarcus Cousins could still be a guy the Lakers could utilize off-the-bench. While he would probably like to see a solid amount of playing time and make an impact, Cousins could be willing to adapt to this new role of being a “plug-and-play” bench player.
Not only would he be on a championship team, but he could be a very valuable asset for them should something happen to one of their other frontcourt players. Signing DeMarcus Cousins poses no risk to the Lakers, making him a worthwhile replace for Davis while he is out with a calf injury.
