DeMarcus Cousins Rumors: Former Lakers Center Drawing Interest Ahead of Restart

Free-agent big man DeMarcus Cousins is reportedly drawing interest from multiple teams ahead of the NBA's planned restart in Orlando, Florida, next month.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski appeared on Get Up on Tuesday and noted Cousins has been rehabbing the knee injury he suffered during the preseason. Wojnarowski also discussed Cousins' potential plans:

"Cousins, he and his agent, Jeff Schwartz—I'm told they're going to be very careful about where they might commit. There's teams interested, but they're going to have to find the right situation for him to come back now, because if they can give him another six months of rehab and preparation for next season, wouldn't rule him out with a team this year, but it's got to be the right team, right situation or he just waits until a training camp next year with a new team."

Even though multiple teams are interested in Cousins, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Boogie will sit out the remainder of the season to continue rehabbing his ACL injury.

Cousin's agent Jeff Schwartz, though, told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times that Boogie is still weighing his options for the NBA restart.

Beginning Tuesday, the NBA is opening a one-week transaction window in which teams can make roster moves, including signing free agents. Teams will also be allowed to carry 17 players on their roster rather than the traditional 15, so there could be quite a bit of activity on the free-agent market.

The 29-year-old Cousins is a four-time All-Star dating back to his stints with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, but he has been plagued by injuries the past few campaigns.

Cousins missed the second half of the 2017-18 season with a torn Achilles, which forced him to accept a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors. Cousins didn't make his 2018-19 debut until January and then tore his quad in the playoffs, although he did return in time for last year's NBA Finals.

He signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason, but after he suffered a torn ACL during the preseason, the Lakers waived Cousins in February to create a roster spot.

Even though he was limited to a career-low 25.7 minutes per game last season in just 30 regular-season contests, Cousins was still effective for the Warriors with 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Before tearing his Achilles in 2017-18 with the Pels, Cousins was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals in 48 appearances.

Cousins can fill up the stat sheet, and he has shown that when he is 100 percent healthy, he is one of the best all-around big men in the game.

Former Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger, who writes for The Athletic, named the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics as good fits for Cousins.

If Cousins plays this year, the big man would make a lot of sense for the Spurs since LaMarcus Aldridge is set to miss the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury. Boston could be a great fit as well since the Celtics are lacking in quality bigs aside from Enes Kanter.

The Mavs already have Kristaps Porzingis, but Cousins could add some much-needed depth off the bench for them.

The 2019-20 NBA season is scheduled to resume July 30, with the 22 remaining teams playing eight regular-season games each.