Los Angeles Lakers: ESPN panel predicts team will sign DeMarcus Cousins
By Nick Ziegler
After a failed season for the Los Angeles Lakers, the ESPN forecast panel recently voted on who the team will sign this summer.
With the season coming to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers, all of their focus will be turning to the offseason. Despite this season being a big failure, the Lakers still have a chance to be a good team next season.
The Lakers will be heading into the summer with a superstar in LeBron James and solid young core of talent. Even though that didn’t result in the playoffs this season, the Lakers are still in a better position than they were one year ago.
While there will certainly be a lot of trade rumors surrounding Anthony Davis, the Lakers would most likely rather use their cap space to sign a max player. By getting a second star player in free agency, the Lakers would be able to keep their young core, which might result in an All-Star player one day.
Recently, the ESPN Forecast panel voted that the Lakers will be most likely to sign DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins will certainly be an interesting player to monitor this summer. Prior to his Achilles injury, Cousins was destined for a max contract. However, he signed a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors this past summer, and has been working his way back into form.
So far this season, Cousins is averaging 15.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 blocks in only 25 minutes per game. While Cousins is still not 100 percent back to his form prior to the injury, he has been looking better and better of late.
Since the Warriors will have a lot of playoffs games this season, Cousins could really help his cause with a strong postseason. If his health looks good and the numbers continue to get better, Cousins would be a very appealing player for the Lakers.
Next. Best and worse case scenarios for the offseason. dark
With the center position being wide open for next season, a healthy Cousins would give the Lakers a second superstar at a position of need. For a team that disappointed this season, that would certainly be nice.