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DeMarcus Cousins Reportedly to Be Waived by Bucks; Free-Agent Interest Expected
January 6, 2022
DeMarcus Cousins will reportedly be looking for a new home soon.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the Milwaukee Bucks intend to waive the veteran center in a move that will afford the team some roster flexibility. Charania added that Cousins is expected to garner interest as a free agent.
"We wouldn't have been able to get through this difficult stretch of the season as successfully as we did without DeMarcus. ... He was so good for us and hopefully we helped him too," Bucks general manager Jon Horst told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Cousins finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes off the bench in Milwaukee's 117-111 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. He entered the game averaging 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 16.7 minutes through 16 games with the Bucks.
Cousins had played less than 20 minutes in each of the previous five games. Milwaukee has employed Bobby Portis as its starting center, and he returned from a four-game absence on Christmas Day.
An 11th-year center out of Kentucky, Cousins was once one of the best frontcourt players in the NBA. The four-time All-Star averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds for five straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2017-18.
But Cousins' career took a devastating turn when he suffered a torn Achilles in January 2018. He later tore his left ACL and missed the entire 2019-20 season. He hasn't been able to regain his All-Star form since then, though he has shown flashes of still being a productive player when healthy.
The next franchise Cousins lands with will be his seventh. He started out his career with the Sacramento Kings before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. He also had stints with the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers.