DeMarcus Cousins getting shafted in free agency

With NBA Free Agency beginning, some of the league’s biggest stars are changing locations and getting paid.

Players like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler are all already off the board, but there’s still plenty of stars up for grabs. While the NBA world awaits the decision of Kawhi Leonard, there’s another star who is reportedly garnering no interest from any team at the moment. That player would be none other than Kentucky’s own DeMarcus Cousins.

Last summer when he was coming off an Achilles injury, Cousins was left to sign for the mid-level exception ($5.3 million) with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors. It was a unique opportunity for both sides as it allowed Boogie to get healthy and showcase himself to other teams while also being able to help the Warriors compete for a third straight NBA title.

They may not have won a championship, but Cousins came back from his injury better than most expected. He averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in his 30 games during the regular season. Even coming off a serious injury, it seemed as if teams would look to Cousins as a quality Plan B option if they struck out on their primary free agent plans.

However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that this is not the case and that there’s seemingly no market for him whatsoever.

“There’s not a market for him. I think he thought and hoped some big market teams would strikeout. I don’t even know if (the mid-level exception) is there for him.”

Even so, there’s no doubt some team will sign Cousins. The four-time All Star is too powerful and skilled to not get picked up eventually. There are just a lot of factors working against him.

Teams are always hesitant to pay big men who have a past with leg injuries, most teams are still focused on either signing other superstars or a team need, and Cousins’ history of attitude problems is something people haven’t forgotten.

Cousins will be signed. That’s both not a question any franchise should be asking or a worry he should be having. For teams, it’s just a question of how much he’s worth and how long he will be worth it for. For him, it’s now an issue of when he gets signed and for how much.

Either way, there will certainly be some amount of disappointment for Cousins by the end of this process. Some playoff teams that could use a center include the Celtics, Lakers and Warriors. But of those three, the Lakers would make the most sense, especially if they have cap to burn in the event they miss out on Kawhi Leonard.