NBA Free Agency 2018: Most impactful signings of the summer

10. DeMarcus Cousins / Kevon Looney, Golden State Warriors

Putting the defending champ’s acquisition of DeMarcus Cousins — a four-time All-Star who combines the best there is of old school and new school bigs — this low seems insulting enough. Tying the importance of his signing with that of Kevon Looney, who you might not recognize if he walked into your kitchen right now, feels downright mean.

No, these two aren’t remotely in the same stratosphere as professional basketball players. In terms of the on-court impact this season though, it’s fair to wonder whether tying them is an insult to Looney, not Boogie.

It’s often said that the most important ability in sports is availability, and given the nature of Cousins injury, it would be a relative surprise if he sees the court before the All-Star break. When he returns, we have no idea how well a player who has had conditioning issues in the past when healthy will reacclimate himself to the game.

The history of players coming back from an Achilles tear is not great. Elton Brand, a former No.1 overall pick and a 20 and 10 machine with a similar build to Boogie, tore his Achilles when he was one year older than Cousins is now. He was never the same.

If and when he does return to the court, a separate issue exists of there being only one ball. Looney played the fifth most minutes of anyone on the team in the Western Conference Finals against the Rockets (which will once again be the only series that matters for the Warriors). That was in large part because of all the goodies he brings off the ball, not to mention his switchability on defense.

As Zach Lowe noted in his excellent piece on Boogie’s fit with arguably the most dangerous offense of all time, Cousins’ real value will be to prop up Golden State’s bench units for five or six minutes during the second and fourth quarters. The rest of the time, Looney might be the more valuable piece to have alongside the four existing Warriors All-Stars.