Sixers Considered Best Landing Spot for DeMarcus Cousins
NBA veteran DeMarcus Cousins will spend another offseason looking to find a new team.
Following his seven-year stint in Sacramento, where Cousins starred for the Kings, he found himself traded to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2016-2017 NBA season in a deal that landed the Kings Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and multiple draft picks.
Cousins continued to produce big numbers in New Orleans for the rest of the 2016-2017 season and during his first full year with the Pelicans. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn Achilles during the 2017-2018 season, which would change his career outlook.
Cousins returned to the court with the Golden State Warriors in 2018-2019. After 30 games, another significant injury took Cousins off the floor for a while.
After wrapping up his lone season with the Warriors, Cousins joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, an ACL tear halted his Lakers debut, which never came. The following year, Cousins landed with the Houston Rockets. His Houston stint lasted 25 games before he was waived.
Around that time, Cousins was viewed as a possible pickup by the Philadelphia 76ers. A relationship between Cousins and the Sixers never formed, and he eventually landed with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he finished the year.
Last season Cousins started his season in late November with the Milwaukee Bucks. After 17 games, he was waived and eventually picked up by the Denver Nuggets. As the 2022-2023 season approaches, Cousins is again available and searching for his ninth franchise.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report recently suggested that the Philadelphia 76ers should be the ones to give Cousins another shot.
The Case for Cousins
“Like Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins may have to take a small role and a veteran minimum contract to stay in the league, but he showed a willingness to do both in 2021-22. …
"Cousins could provide a similar stabilizing effect as the backup to Jokic's chief rival, Joel Embiid.”
Cousins’ name held a ton of value when the former fifth-overall picked played for the Kings and the Pelicans. These days, he’s trying to prove he can be an affordable, valuable backup.
The Sixers could very well add a veteran big man to compete for minutes behind Joel Embiid. Over the last two seasons, the Sixers added players such as Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond, and DeAndre Jordan to fill that role.
But with the third-year hybrid center Paul Reed, and the second-year big Charles Bassey improving their value, the Sixers hope that one of the youngsters can be trusted behind Embiid.
If one or both of them struggle to convince Doc Rivers they are reliable at the start of camp, then the Sixers could certainly look into Cousins, who averaged eight points, and five rebounds coming off Denver’s bench for 31 regular-season and five postseason games last year.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
