DeMarcus Cousins is still a free agent, and the Los Angeles Lakers should sign him immediately.
Now that Kawhi Leonard has signed with the Clippers, and Paul George has been traded to the Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers must move on from this, and use the money they have remaining effectively.
The Lakers have agreed to sign Danny Green, Quinn Cook, JaVale McGee, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jared Dudley, and Troy Daniels, so far.
However, they still have four roster spots to fill out. The Lakers should consider signing DeMarcus Cousins for a couple of reasons. Firstly, some people forget how good Cousins was when healthy. He was considered the best center in the league by some.
When Cousins played with Sacramento, he averaged 21.1 points, on 45.9% shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks, in 31.9 minutes played.
When Cousins joined Anthony Davis in New Orleans, he averaged 25 points, on 46.5% shooting, 12.7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks in 35.6 minutes played, before getting injured.
When Cousins came back from a torn left Achilles injury, he was not the same, as expected. He spent a season in Golden State, and averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks, in just 25.7 minutes of play. His defense was not the same when returning, partly do to his conditioning, but now that he’s getting healthier, his defense will get better as well.
Cousins and Davis looked like an unstoppable duo in New Orleans, until the injury happened. Now, imagine Cousins and Davis, alongside LeBron James.
The Lakers need to sign Cousins now more than ever before, because of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George going to the Clippers. The Clippers have three first team all-defensive players, but if the Lakers sign Cousins, the Clippers will have trouble defending the Lakers and here’s why.
The Clippers best fourth quarter lineup, would look something like this: Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Montrezl Harrell. If the Lakers sign Cousins, the Lakers lineup would look something like this, as of now: Quinn Cook, Danny Green, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins.
You can already see the height differential between Lou Williams (6’1”) and Danny Green (6’6”). Paul George will likely be forced to guard Anthony Davis, assuming Kawhi would be guarding LeBron, and Harrell would be guarding Cousins, Davis has a mismatch against Paul George. If they switch Harrell and George, Cousins has a mismatch. So no matter which way you look at it, the Lakers bigs would have a mismatch. Even if the Clippers put Zubac in along with Harrell, we saw Cousins play bully-ball against Zubac in the playoffs, so that won’t work either.
Cousins will be a good addition to this Laker lineup. It will be very difficult for teams to guard a trio of LeBron-Davis-Cousins. Once Cousins gets back in shape, the Lakers would be the favorites to win the Western Conference. There won’t be many teams who will be able to guard Cousins-Davis in the paint, especially alongside LeBron, and three-point shooters such as, Kyle Kuzma, Quinn Cook, Danny Green, and Troy Daniels.