The Case for DeMarcus Cousins as a Top-5 NBA Player in 2015
A year ago, it would have been fair to say DeMarcus Cousins was putting a down payment on a residency in the NBA's gated community cordoned off for the league's elite.
Through the first half of the 2014-15 season, though, Cousins has all but paid the remaining balance and is now the proud owner of a large swath of real estate near the top of the Association's individual hierarchy.
A runaway freight train clad in purple hell-bent on bowling over opposing frontcourts, Cousins has eviscerated defenses by averaging 24.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field.
Since 2000, only Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love have met those statistical benchmarks over the course of a season, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
That designation alone doesn't qualify Cousins for a spot among the league's most polished players, but such a distinguished modifying variable certainly helps pad one of the league's most impressive resumes.
But how has Cousins' revelatory play transformed him into a player who deserves to be grouped alongside LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis?
First and foremost, Cousins is an absolutely dominant scorer below the free-throw line. As Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney put it, "He works the post in high usage, but thrives there with an offbeat rhythm and offhand style."
Like most muscle-bound bigs, the 6'11'', 270-pound Cousins is most effective working in one-on-one situations down on the low block.
As his heat map from NBASavant.com indicates, Cousins is a full-blown wrecking ball in the restricted area:
But the most impressive facet of Cousins' imposing low-post exploits is his ability to score in the face of defenders intent on walling off clear paths to the basket.
According to SportVU player tracking data provided to NBA.com, primary defenders have been generally helpless when matched up against Cousins. Specifically, he's shooting 48.7 percent against "very tight" defense (0-2 feet) and 59.4 percent versus "tight" defense (2-4 feet).
Checking back with the heat map, Cousins isn't exactly confined to the boundaries of conventional low-post play. His mid-range jump shot remains an evolving weapon, as future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki noted following the Dallas Mavericks' 108-104 overtime victory against the Kings Tuesday night.
"He's one of the best centers in the league," Nowitzki said, according to Sactown Royalty's Blake Ellington. "He's strong, he's tough, he can score in there. But he can also step out now and he can shoot from 16, 17 feet. I mean, it felt like he didn't miss today from that range. So yeah, he's one of the best offensive players we've got in the league."
As it turns out, Dirk is a keen observer of proficient mid-range shooting. En route to totaling 32 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes against the Mavericks, Cousins shot 50 percent from mid-range, 10 percent better than the league average, per NBA.com. On the season, Boogie's knocking down a career-high 47.1 percent of his attempts from 10-16 feet, according to Basketball-Reference—8 percent better than last year's total.
Even when Cousins' scoring methodologies are hounded by double- and triple-teams, he's plenty capable of keeping Sacramento's 15th-ranked offense humming at an efficient clip.
Ranked No. 4 among centers in nightly distributive output, Cousins is averaging a career-high 3.2 assists. Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol and Boris Diaw are the only men in the middle picking defenses apart at a higher clip, per ESPN.com.
Quick to recognize collapsing schemes designed to prevent his lethal post-ups, Cousins can often be found swiftly kicking the rock out to open wing shooters in a way most bigs cannot. And when he decides to set up shop above the free-throw line and dabble in some nifty high-low routines, his cerebral grasp of the game from multiple dimensions becomes abundantly clear (h/t CBSSports.com's Matt Moore).
Cousins is also fully capable of getting funky in transition with skip passes men his size have positively no business making (h/t Reddit):
Considerable growth has occurred on defense, too. Block and steal averages of 1.7 and 1.3 aside, Cousins is evolving into a more impactful paint protector.
Among players who defend at least seven shots per game at the rim, Cousins ranks No. 8 overall behind consensus Defensive Player of the Year candidate Tim Duncan, allowing opponents to convert just 46.6 percent of their attempts from point-blank range, per SportVU.
After Cousins' counterparts knocked down 51.1 percent of their looks at the rim last season, according to SportVU, the evolution of his nimble disposition and explosive read-and-react capabilities has thrust him into an exclusive realm occupied by a select few members of active basketball royalty.
"I don't know what the definition of All-Star is if he doesn't make it," Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo said, according to Ellington. "I mean he should be if not the first guy selected by the coaches if he doesn't get in by the fans. They've [the Kings] got the best young player in the game, DeMarcus, he's a beast and he hasn't even reached his potential yet...he's going to be dominating this game for a long time to come."
A two-way tour de force with a vocal fan club, it's no wonder the Kings perform like a 60-win team when Cousins is on the floor, according to statistical models run by Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal.
Fromal's projections also bear out some interesting data regarding Cousins' value relative to Davis. Per Bleacher Report's Dan Favale, "The Kings, by this measurement, are 35.9 wins better with Cousins on the floor. For context on that front, the New Orleans Pelicans are a plus-26.9 with Davis."
Classifications and rankings of this ilk are naturally subjective and grounds for constructive debate. But if the confluence of his game on both ends of the floor is any indication, Cousins is firmly entrenched as a top-five superstar with terrifying room for improvement.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
