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USA TODAY Sports Jeff Zillgitt breaks down some of the biggest signatures of free agents in the NBA, including LeBron James and DeMarcus Cousins.
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New Orleans Pelican Center DeMarcus Cousins (0) against Miami Heat in the first half -time at the American Airlines Arena SACRAMENTO – Imagine Being Vivek Ranadive Monday
This was the beginning of the inaugural California Classic, the NBA's summer league at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento where the owner Kings would have his last chance to show off this magnificent new building while watching the young core of De Aaron Fox of his team, Harry Giles, Marvin Bagley III in action. And just when he was about to start, with Golden State about to face the Miami Heat before the Kings-Lakers game in the nightcap, the news broke that the champion back-to-back defense Warriors has disembarked. , that DeMarcus Cousins, the immensely talented great man who spent nearly seven stressful seasons in Sacramento before a hideous divorce sent him to New Orleans via trade in February 2017.
"Ne do not ask me "Boogie", "Ranadive, who spent three years as a minority owner of the Warriors before helping to keep the Kings in Sacramento in 2013, said smiling at USA TODAY Sports while walking toward his court seat., players and members of the media lamented the Warriors' latest move on social media, with Golden State adding a fifth All-Star to their unmatched mix for the special price of 5.3 Million dollars for a one year contract, the addition of Cousins is not as simple as some have done so.There is a reason he has struggled to find more money on the free market, with reasons ranging from p This summer's wage cap cease asking questions about his thorny personality who have been harassing him since his days in Kentucky.
But more than anything else, it's the tearing of the Achilles tendon that Cousins suffered in February while New Orleans was the flag the brightest red of all. And if the 27-year-old, four-time All-Star will execute this plan – be a player impact on a championship team, then win a long-term contract max elsewhere next summer – he will have to To prove that (19659008) If the Cousins averaged 25.2 points, they were in a good position to bounce in career (12.9 per) and to help the Pelicans (5.4) in 48 games before being eliminated. injured last season, that would be one thing. But it's the Cousins who are five months away from the surgery needed to repair the tear, and there's no way of knowing it'll ever come back to its peak shape.
Cousins told ESPN's Marc Spears that he will be ready for the training camp in late September, but this schedule is extremely ambitious. The Warriors do not need to repel Cousins, and it is quite possible, if not probable, that he only returns to action after the New Year.
But will Cousins always be the same? The story tells a conflicting and disturbing story
Atlanta Hawks, the great Dominic Wilkins is the gold standard on this front, since he's gone to be swept away from the floor of #################################################################################### Omni with a torn Achilles just the evening of January 28, 1992. his next seasons carrying his teams even more than he had done before. Wilkins, who was 32 at the time, had the third best season of his 15-year career (29.9 points per game) in 1993-94, before taking two more star teams before retiring to 39 years old. [19659008] Former cousin Cousins, Rudy Gay, tore his Achilles on January 19, 2017 while he was in Sacramento, then returned 10 months later after signing with San Antonio. And while Gay's play time dropped from his standard with the Spurs because of his Sixth Man role (21.6 minutes versus 34.6 for his career), his production by 36 minutes increased his standards careers.
On the other side of this spectrum, there is the great Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons (retired at age 32 after tore his Achilles) and the Lakers legend Kobe Bryant (he returned after less than eight months). in these last three games, the seasons riddled with injuries.)
When it comes to examples of great men, however, Elton Brand qualifies as an edifying tale. The attacker of the Clippers of the time broke his Achilles tendon during a training session in August – a year after being named All-Star for the second time – and returned eight months later to play the last eight games of the regular season in April. 19659024] View Thumbnails
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In the eight seasons leading up to the injury, he had accumulated an average of 20.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 75 points. , 7 games played. But in those eight seasons, from 2008 until his retirement in 2016, Brand would see his production and health almost halved: he averaged 9.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 55.5 games per season. As explained by Brand in an ESPN podcast interview, the Achilles injury had an undeniable workout effect on his body. "The most frustrating part was the injuries," Brand said. "That Achilles really changed the trajectory of my career.All this kinetic chain: once you have the calf, it's the ankle, the knee, the hips, the back.Nobody n? is really cured of this Achilles injury and returns to the same level.
"I had some useful seasons, but I was not the same guy. I still had atrophy on my left calf – that was my leg of strength – of this Achilles. And then, quickly, I had a labrum ripped right after that. You know, just wounds, and it happens. "
The Warriors and Cousins, of course, would love nothing more than for his story of Achilles to be very different.
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