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UPDATE
Shortly thereafter, Rajon Rondo agreed to a two-year deal with the Lakers, so we’ll see three Wildcats in Los Angeles next season.
Former Kentucky Wildcats star and current nine-year NBA veteran DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Woj.
Cousins joins the Lakershow after a one-year stint with the Golden State Warriors, falling just short of winning The Association’s dearest trophy.
This past season was an inconsistent return from an achilles tear during the 2017-2018 NBA season when Cousins was playing with the New Orleans Pelicans. Instead of accepting a reported two year deal worth around $24 million, Cousins elected to sign a one-year, $5 million contract with the Warriors.
When Cousins made his return in mid-January, he managed to start all 30 games he played in for Golden State and averaged 16.3 points along with 8.2 rebounds over that span.
Unfortunately, Cousins’ playoff time was limited as he suffered a quadriceps injury in the first round of the postseason and didn’t return until Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Still, though, Cousins’ efforts on a guard-oriented team were above-average and showed flashes of the All-NBA center from just two seasons ago.
Now over a year removed from his achilles tear, Cousins should be in much better playing shape and ready to compete for his new club. He also gets to reunite with Anthony Davis, as the two teamed up for about two seasons with the Pelicans, but the Achilles injury led to their full potential as a frontcourt tandem never being realized.
The Lakers were hoping to land Kawhi Leonard in free agency, but once he landed with the Los Angeles Clippers, they quickly moved on to easily the best free agent still on the market in Cousins.
A big three of LeBron, Davis and Cousins will have the Lakers contending for a title next season, though they won’t even be the favorite to win the Western Conference (early odds now have the Clippers favored to win it all next season).
As long as the Lakers continue to fill out their roster with quality veterans, this should be a very fun team to watch when the 2019-20 season begins.