How the Golden State Warriors Can Maximize DeMarcus Cousins
Less than 24 hours after LeBron James rattled the NBA's makeup with his expected move to the Los Angeles Lakers, the world champion Golden State Warriors upped the ante.
DeMarcus Cousins, still recovering from an Achilles tear suffered January 26, agreed to sign with the Warriors on the $5.3 million taxpayer mid-level exception Monday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The rich got massively richer. For cheap. Cousins could have chosen any team for that price, and many could have beaten that offer.
His market was fairly barren after his injury, and it's unclear where he is on the six- or 10-month road to recovery. No one knows if he will be the same player. It's also nebulous how he'll adapt to the Warriors and vice versa. But sooner or later, Cousins will share the floor with the champs as an addition that will alter the team's DNA.
The last few Warriors iterations have been about brilliant guard and wing play, unconscious shooting, unselfish ball movement and defensive versatility. Cousins owns some of those qualities, but he's far from the fit Kevin Durant was upon his 2016 arrival.
Whereas Durant's shooting, unselfishness and switchability fit right into the Warriors' modus operandi, Cousins is a hulking, ball-dominant, skilled big man. He can give you buckets on the block, handle the ball, run the break, shoot and pass. But those skills come at a cost—he is at his best when the ball is in his hands, playing slow and with the offense going through him. Simply put, his style stands in direct contrast to the Warriors' blueprint.
It's easy to imagine this marriage as a success, but to make it work, both parties will have to sacrifice.
Most notably, a true low-block scorer is something these Warriors haven't had. Cousins may have to ease up on the post touches; he averaged 7.5 post-ups per game, seventh-most in the NBA last season. However, the Warriors used 16.7 post touches per contest last season, third in the NBA.
So it's not like they'll refuse to give him the ball on the block. Cousins is a bully down there, having scored 0.882 points per post-up possession. He also has the ability to score in a variety of ways—no matter who is on him:
With Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Durant's shooting, the defense will be forced to let Cousins cook with more room on the block than he's ever had.
While his low-post scoring is a new tool for the Warriors, it is antithetical to their motion-heavy offense. Head coach Steve Kerr will have to strike a balance between the two. It could be a problem in the way Durant's high post-up frequency was in the playoffs, but with the team's general unselfishness, touches won't be hard to come by.
Being a high-usage post player doesn't make Cousins selfish; it just means he demands touches. He's a willing, gifted passer for a 6'11", 270-pound bruiser, having averaged a career-high 5.4 assists per game last season, which tied for seventh all-time among centers. The attention Cousins draws as a scoring threat will allow him to go one-on-one or kick it out to the Splash Family, should the defense risk leaving them:
The Warriors are not a pick-and-roll-heavy team, and Cousins was the roll man in only 8.4 percent of his possessions—so outright high pick-and-rolls with Curry will not be frequently used. But the Warriors love playing their bigs out of the elbow, which can be the key to unlocking the incorporation of Cousins. They can use Cousins as a screener from there, and he can roll or create openings with his passing:
Thompson and Curry could screen for each other in a similar strategy, which would allow Cousins to dime whoever gets open in the inevitable chaos. And if the defense locks it up, he can score from there, too:
The fit will be better than the general consensus predicts, assuming Cousins accommodates the team. His 31.9 percent usage rate will need to come down dramatically. Even though that figure was Cousins' lowest since the 2012-13 season, it would have led all Warriors who played at least two minutes last season.
Cousins is a capable three-point shooter for a big—35.4 percent on 6.1 attempts per game—and will inevitably have to do some spotting up from the wing and the top of the key while the rest of the players fly around him. He garnered 20 percent of his offense from spotting up, and that number will likely have to jump even higher, considering the talent on the roster.
He'll get plenty of opportunities to pull the trigger from deep, but his ability to attack closeouts will greatly benefit from the space and attention created by Curry et al:
There are few big men with as many tools and as much polish as Cousins has. He'll have to be willing to give up touches and play within the Warriors offense instead of being the focal point of it, but if he does, the Warriors will have found yet another weapon that further makes them impossible to defend.
Speaking of defense: Cousins isn't great on that end, but he's still an upgrade over Zaza Pachulia and David West. His 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game look great and contribute to his 3.6 defensive box plus-minus, but those stats don't capture his struggles with defending guards in pick-and-rolls or his lack of presence when defending the rim, which could be even more of a problem after the injury.
Still, Cousins won't have to be the defensive anchor most teams need at center. The Hamptons Five lineup of Curry, Durant, Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala will remain the Warriors' most potent defensive combination, so Cousins likely won't play in many high-leverage situations.
Besides, Green and Durant were more than serviceable when sliding over to protect the rim, and with Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney back, they'll have other options as far as rim protectors and switching.
All things considered, the fit isn't as bad as it might seem on paper. It will take time and effort for everyone jell, so, to help work in the new piece, both Cousins and the Warriors will have to compromise. But both sides are off to a good start, as Cousins has already shown he's willing to do that by even accepting this deal.
He may only spend a year with the Warriors while he rehabs his body and value, and he'll likely want more than the measly taxpayer mid-level exception after this season. Without full Bird rights, retaining Cousins will be a challenge for general manager Bob Myers, as he cannot go over the salary cap to sign him. But if Cousins succumbs to another mid-level deal, the Warriors would acquire his Bird rights after the second year.
At that point, the Warriors could offer him a max deal should ownership be willing to cough up a legendary luxury-tax bill.
In the meantime, the Warriors' reign of terror won't end soon, and this new chapter may be the most interesting yet. So, even if it takes time to flesh out the details, the raw talent will be overwhelming.
Stats via NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Synergy Sports. Follow Will on Twitter @wontgottlieb.
