By: Nick LaPorte, 8/15/2019
This afternoon, Shams Charania reported that DeMarcus Cousins has torn his ACL, just weeks after signing a 1-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Cousins has been on a rollercoaster since being traded to the Pelicans in 2017, after spending the early part of his career in Sacramento. Cousins enjoyed brief success in New Orleans, but in January of 2018, Cousins ruptured his Achilles’ tendon and missed the rest of the season.
After turning down a 2-year deal to return to the Pelicans, Cousins shocked the NBA world last summer by signing a 1-year, $5 million deal with the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. Cousins spent the first half of the 2018-2019 season recovering from this injury, and roughly 1 year after his injury the star big man returned to the floor. The Warriors managed his minutes, and Cousins had the worst statistical season of his career, but he showed flashes of regaining that potential he once held to be the best big in the league.
Disaster struck again for Cousins in April, when he injured his quad and missed nearly 3 straight rounds of playoff basketball. Having never made the playoffs once in his career, it was sad to watch Cousins hurt himself in his first ever playoff game. The Warriors kept going though, and made the NBA Finals, in which Cousins returned to action. It was an up and down series for Boogie, but once again he showed he has All-Star potential when he’s healthy. This prompted the Lakers to offer him a 1-year “prove it” deal to reunite with Anthony Davis and try to win a championship. Once again, Cousins will be watching from the sidelines; at least for now.
The timeline to recover from a torn ACL is 9-12 months, but we have seen athletes recover in record time over the past 10 years. Advances in sports medicine and treatment have been incredible, and an ACL tear, what was once seen as the “kiss of death,” is now seen almost like Tommy John surgery in baseball; it sucks, it takes time, but most guys recover nearly all the way. To compare it to another sport, Adrian Peterson won the NFL MVP less than a year after tearing his ACL.
For Cousins, this is another challenge that he has to get through in order to get back to the bar he set in New Orleans. It wasn’t a long history, but he showed the ability to knock down 3s, play good help defense, and still put up 20-10 games regularly. There will be pressure, both external and internal, for Cousins to hurry back. If his surgery and recovery go well, it’s possible Cousins could see an NBA court in February. That’s the best possible case, but it’s what he should be aiming for. Cousins has to show that he can hold up for stretches, otherwise it’ll be minimum contracts for the rest of his career.
Pressure will come from the Lakers as well, who have real title aspirations. The Lakers signed Lebron James last summer, and traded for Anthony Davis this summer, building a core of 2 superstars. Cousins was supposed to be a major contributor, rebuilding his game next to two of the game’s great players. Cousins was also going to provide insurance for Davis, who has been injury-prone at times in his career. The Lakers’ depth is razor thin; the injury to Cousins makes it that much more likely they’ll have to acquire a big that can spell Anthony Davis. It is reasonable to assume the Lakers will want Cousins on the court as soon as possible; teams with Lebron James don’t allow for a slow recovery timeline. If Cousins isn’t ready in February, it’s tough imagining him having a real impact in the playoffs; you can’t just jump right in, Cousins will have to play some games before April rolls around.
These last 2 summers have seen a lot of player movement, and a lot of big money flying around. The 2010 draft is right in the middle of all of this, with Cousins, John Wall, and Paul George in the center of a lot of storylines. Wall, for example, signed a Supermax extension with the Wizards before rupturing his Achilles last winter. As recently as the 2017-2018 season, Wall was an All-Star point guard, but now the Wizards don’t expect to see him play until the 2020-2021 season. Cousins, on the other hand, tore his Achilles before signing an extension. While he and Wall have had similar career paths, Wall has the long term security that Cousins doesn’t. In college, the 2 players were teammates at Kentucky and remained close friends throughout their NBA careers. Both were top-5 picks, and both have had their mark on the NBA felt the last 2 years.
The other standout player from that draft is Paul George, the star forward that just forced a trade to the Clippers. George was picked 10th in that draft by the Pacers, and has been a consistent All-Star in Indiana and Oklahoma City. George is somewhere in the neighborhood of the 6-10th best player in the NBA, and he’s actually a good example of what persistence can do when recovering from injury. George suffered a broken leg years ago and took time to regain his abilities. Now, George is better than ever and is a better player than he was before breaking his leg. Obviously a broken leg is different from what Cousins is dealing with; an Achilles rupture, then a quad injury, and now an ACL tear. Cousins has a long road to recovery but there is a possibility that he can still be a great NBA player.
Cousins is not even 30 years old, and big men historically age better than wings or forwards. Look at Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki. All were able to contend for championships late in their careers, and Cousins shares one key ability with all of these historically great bigs; his offensive game is predicated on finesse and he doesn’t rely on athleticism at this stage of his career. Of course Cousins needs to be mobile, because even big men need to run the floor and be able to shoot in high-paced offenses; look at players like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Each of these All-Star bigs have the ability to stretch the floor, and all 3 can run pace-and-space offense. Cousins needs to do this when he gets back, or he will have difficulty finding a spot as a contributor.
Still, don’t give up hope on Cousins. An ACL tear is another blow, and each injury compounds and makes it more difficult for Cousins to ever reach those All-Star heights he achieved early in his career. Having said that, Cousins is a hardworking player. While there were locker room concerns, one thing reigns supreme throughout Cousins’ career: he just wants to win.
Stats On Deck Blog 