January 5 is the first official day that NBA teams can sign players to 10-day contracts and the Los Angeles Lakers should take full advantage of that. Los Angeles has an open roster spot to use and can benefit from getting some rotation help, even if it is temporary.
Yesterday we broke down three sharpshooters the Lakers could essentially give an audition to with a 10-day contract. If any of those players were to be signed and catch fire, they could become long-term members of the rotation.
Los Angeles could go another route, though. With Anthony Davis still nursing a foot injury, the team could utilize a 10-day contract to add some much-needed size to the rotation. After all, this team desperately lacks size and Damian Jones just doesn’t cut it as the backup big.
3 bigs the Lakers could sign with a 10-day contract while Anthony Davis is out:
1. DeMarcus Cousins
DeMarcus Cousins never got a chance to show what he had for the Los Angeles Lakers. Cousins signed with the Lakers shortly before the 2019-20 season and tore his ACL while training, forcing the Lakers to pivot and sign Dwight Howard instead.
Cousins’ career path has been a sad one as he was on his way to a big payday and injuries caught up to him too soon. He has had some brief moments of looking really good again but he has transitioned into an NBA journeyman who is just trying to get his chances where he can.
After a short stint with the Milwaukee Bucks, Cousins signed three consecutive 10-day contracts with the Denver Nuggets last season and eventually was given a standard NBA contract. While he was far from perfect, he was a serviceable depth big and you would have thought that he would’ve earned a new contract from someone over the summer.
Los Angeles could bet on the pedigree of Cousins and hope that Cousins’ three-point shot could turn a corner with two good passers in LeBron James and Russell Westbrook dishing him the ball. Even if it doesn’t, he will be more impactful than Jones.