Fansided

NBA Free Agency 2019: 20 best players available

By Brendon Kleen

Mandatory Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images /
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OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Toronto Raptors during Game Six of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Toronto Raptors during Game Six of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

17. DeMarcus Cousins, C, Golden State Warriors, Unrestricted

What happened in the Finals may not even matter. Cousins was huge in Games Two, Five and Six, but disastrous during the two home games in between that cost the Warriors their three-peat. Altogether, the Cousins-Warriors partnership went about as expected aside from the quad injury in the playoffs, meaning not much has changed about Cousins ought to be valued around the NBA.

As I wrote in April about Cousins:

"“The winning version of Cousins is not an All-Star. With just a 56.7 true shooting percentage and heavy turnovers throughout his career, Cousins is unlikely to ever become an offensive focal point on a contender. More reasonably, he settles into a role similar to how he was used in New Orleans, with another big man finisher next to him and shooting around the arc. The compromise by Cousins and the Pelicans between creating offense and buying into a team game worked. The Pelicans inverted pick-and-rolls, tinkered with triangle concepts and got out in transition, all in an effort to maximize Cousins. That’s still the blueprint for any team that wants to steal him from Golden State and commit to him long-term. Cousins remains an elite passing big man. He reads the game a few steps ahead of everyone else — which made him an ideal fit in Golden State’s offense — and his handle allows him to maneuver in the halfcourt.”"

This all rings true today. Perhaps teams will see that he sacrificed his body and his minutes and his shot attempts to help Golden State when their season was on the line in the finals and put to bed the concerns about his attitude.

The biggest issue when it comes to  Cousins is convincing him to accept a smaller role. Not every organization can use five Hall of Famers to make that case.

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