Word Monday night that all-star centre DeMarcus Cousins is heading to the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on a one-year deal at the tax-payer mid-level exception was shocking.
What may be even more stunning is the amount of teams besides the Dubs who were in pursuit of Boogie.
According to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, that number would be zero.
“Keep in mind he had that Achilles injury right after the all-star break and, in the back of his mind, he wondered if it would affect him majorly in free agency, and it did,” Spears said during an ESPN segment shortly after the reported Cousins news broke. “He told me he got zero offers. This is a four-time all-star, one of the best players in the world, zero offers.
“So he was certainly confused, he was certainly hurt. He said at about five in the morning in Vegas he got on his balcony, thought about everything, called his agent, woke him up and started talking about different scenarios and one of the scenarios was going to the Warriors.
“So early in the morning he called Bob Myers, the Warriors general manager, talked to him. Bob, he said he was certainly shocked that DeMarcus called him and was interested in taking the mid-level exception. Then after that, DeMarcus said he talked to Stephen Curry, he spoke with Kevin Durant, he spoke with Draymond Green. … Their excitement about having him on the team really lifted his spirits, really made him want to come.”
It’s true that Cousins’ Achilles injury should be a point of consternation for NBA teams, but enough to scare 29 others from taking a gamble worth only $5.3 million with All-NBA upside?
As Cousins reportedly told Spears, this move of his to the Bay was calculated.
“He called it his chess move,” Spears said. “He called it his ace that he didn’t expect to play but had to play.”
Interestingly enough, the pre-meditated nature of this entire situation seemed to have been confirmed by Cousins’ manager, Andrew Rogers, just a few minutes before the bomb dropped on Twitter.
Golden State will be Cousins’ third NBA team over the span of his eight-season career.
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