It’s likely that a contender will acquire DeMarcus Cousins now that he is being released by the Houston Rockets. Unsurprisingly, the Brooklyn Nets have risen as a possible destination for the former Kentucky big man. Brooklyn is all-in on a title this year and isn’t trying to let any contender from either conference get an edge on them.
Yet, does a Cousins acquisition make sense for the Nets at this stage? This isn’t the same DeMarcus Cousins that played for the Kings five years ago, where he was arguably the best center in the league at the time. Now we’re dealing with a player that averages 9.6 PPG and 7.6 RPG. Cousins is no longer that guy that could get you 20 & 10 on any given night.
Not only that, DeMarcus Cousins brings no interior defense whatsoever. Even before his myriad injuries, when he was in Sacramento his interior defense wasn’t elite. Don’t even get me started with his perimeter defense. Throughout this process of getting healthy and recovering from previous injuries, he is going to be a defensive liability no matter what. Wherever he ends up, this will translate even if his future team tries to hide it. If Brooklyn decides to pick him up, this will only make it more difficult for the Nets to defend. They organization has already made it known that it isn’t going to prioritize defense this season – but a team can’t improve by making its weaknesses even more glaring. You pick up a player that will help turn that weakness into a strength.
The Nets are better off pursuing an interior defender that can rebound the ball well. That is the missing piece to what Brooklyn needs. Once they can fill this void, the Nets could be almost unstoppable.
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