NBA Rumors: After Kawhi Signing, DeMarcus Cousins Tops Remaining Free Agents
The NBA free agent period began last Sunday, and most of the remaining free agents went off the board quickly. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, and other players all committed to new teams in the opening hours that players and teams were allowed to negotiate on June 30.
Now, six days later, the final remaining domino has fallen, with Kawhi Leonard joining the Los Angeles Clippers and bringing Paul George along with him from Oklahoma City in a trade. As a result of Leonard not signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, three free agents — Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and JaVale McGee — quickly reached agreements with that team.
That left only a few remaining free agents. In fact, per the CBSSports.com free agency tracker, the top remaining free agent who remains unsigned is center DeMarcus Cousins, who was ranked the 14th-best free agent at the start of the offseason.
The only other unsigned players on that list of 87 players include Marcus Morris (21st), Kelly Oubre, Jr. (29th), Jabari Parker (42nd), and Rajon Rondo (47th.) Also on the list are Nikola Mirotic, who has agreed to play in Spain next season, and Darren Collison, who announced his retirement from basketball. Oubre is a restricted free agent, as are a few other players (Tyus Jones, Delon Wright) who aren’t on the CBS list. In addition, veteran guard Avery Bradley was released by the Memphis Grizzlies, and is a free agent now despite not being one at the start of the offseason.
Should #Spurs pursue DeMarcus Cousins?#GoSpursGO pic.twitter.com/dCyrcwZf3A
— Spurs Nation (@SpursNationCP) July 5, 2019
The 28-year-old Cousins was considered one of the league’s best big men during the early part of his career with the Sacramento Kings, and for a time he was part of a “twin towers” tandem in New Orleans with Anthony Davis. His career was derailed, however, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a game in January of 2018. That injury caused Cousins to miss more than a year of action, although he signed a one-year contract with the Golden State Warriors last summer, and ended up returning to the court and playing for the Warriors during their playoff run.
Cousins, per The Inquisitr, has been linked of late to the Washington Wizards. The player fired his agents and hired new ones last week, after a meager market emerged for him in the early going of free agency. The Wizards this week traded Dwight Howard, another veteran center who was formerly considered a superstar. Cousins has also been linked to the San Antonio Spurs as well as the Lakers, per NBC Sports.
