ESPN analyst and former NFL player Dominique Foxworth shared why he thinks the Los Angeles Lakers might be better off without DeMarcus Cousins.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost big man DeMarcus Cousins to a horrific ACL tear on Monday. At the moment the timetable for his return is still undetermined.
Cousins could be out for the season or he could be back just in time for the playoffs. Either way, the Lakers will have to find a way to win without him to start the upcoming season.
During a segment on ESPN’s First Take, Dominique Foxworth, who is a former NFL player and has served as the Chief Operating Officer of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) shared his opinion on the Cousins injury.
"“I’m gonna say that it might make it a little higher chances that they will have a successful team deep in the playoffs,” Foxworth said. “I think that they might have better chances. I know that Boogie Cousins is an All-NBA type talent and having him on your team is good for depth but I think that this team is better with LeBron at the four.”"
Foxworth later added, “They have a glut of forwards if they can move Lebron to the four, which means you move Anthony Davis to the five I think this team is better off.” First Take co-host Will Cain refuted Foxworth’s statement saying “You’re not better off with less talent you just never are.”
According to Jared Greenberg of NBA TV, a high ranking member of the Lakers told him that they do not expect Anthony Davis to play a lot of minutes at center.
In the wake of the DeMarcus Cousins news a high ranking member of the Lakers tells me that they do not expect nor do they want Anthony Davis to play “big minutes” at center this season @NBATV
— Jared Greenberg (@JaredSGreenberg) August 16, 2019
However, this could likely change as the season goes on with Boogie being sidelined for a while. JaVale McGee will probably be the main center and Dwight Howard will be the backup. Davis could still play some minutes at the center spot when McGee or Howard is not on the court.
Dwight Howard will have to prove himself with the Lakers as this is his second chance with the team. Howard does not need to be a superstar for the Lakers to be successful.
If he can come off the bench and average around ten points a game, grab ten rebounds, and get a few blocked shots, that would be of great help to them. Howard needs to just do what the coaches assign him to do and show his teammates that he can be reliable.
Although DeMarcus Cousins only played in 30 games with the Warriors last season, he was still very productive. He averaged 16.3 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 3.6 assists per game.
Cousins played some big minutes for the Warriors when Kevin Durant got injured in Game 5 and was one of the key reasons they won that game. To say the Lakers are better off without DeMarcus Cousins is absurd.
The Lakers will definitely be at a loss without Cousins who is one of the most dominant big men in the league.