Boogie joins the Warriors
The NBA was turned upside down on Monday when the shocking news broke that DeMarcus Cousins had agreed to a one-year, $5.3 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, a figure well under his value.
Varying reports began flying left and right, some stating that Boogie didn’t receive any other offers in free agency. Others claimed that the offers he received weren’t what he was looking for. Some say the New Orleans Pelicans wanted to keep him while others make that less clear.
It’s quite the jumbled mess to be honest.
Yet, like it or not, All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins is now a member of the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. Golden State will roll out a full All-Star caliber starting lineup next season. The thought of it makes me want to gag, to be quite honest.
But let’s get back to the task at hand – how does this affect the Utah Jazz? Quite honestly? My answer might surprise you, but I’m going to say not that much.
It’s completely awful for the competitiveness of the league for a star like Cousins to unite with the Warriors for a fraction of what he’s worth. It’s probable that teams were hesitant to add him not only because of his perceived attitude issues, but also due to his Achilles injury that he suffered this past season that will hold him out until about December or January of this next season.
Ironically, it’s my belief that many teams saw that and figured that, due to his lengthy absence, he likely wouldn’t be the right piece for them to add to get them over the hump to defeat the Warriors, and thus so many passed on him. Unfortunately, by so doing, those hypothetical teams facilitated his joining the Golden State Warriors, making that formerly daunting hump all the more insurmountable.
So GM Bob Myers has replaced JaVale McGee with ... Boogie Cousins. The $5.3M represents the taxpayer mid-level exception. Cousins is hopeful to return to the court by December/January off his torn Achilles. There will be no rush with Warriors. https://t.co/lYwGjxZchk
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2018
Yet, while it’s frustrating that the Warriors will likely be that much more invincible and have that much more of an easy path to the NBA Finals, let’s face it, the Jazz and probably not any other team was going to beat them this next season anyway. Yes, it stings to say it (and is an example of just how lamely predictable the Warriors have made the league), but I think we all have a pretty good idea who’s winning the NBA Championship in 2019.
With or without Cousins, the Warriors were going to be nearly unstoppable. The Jazz, though they should be much-improved this next season, wouldn’t be ready to ascend to the height of Golden State just yet whether they had Boogie or not. Cousins’ one-year contract just makes the team that was already out of reach for the Jazz just slightly more out of reach, assuming he comes back healthy from the injury and can perform at a high level.
After Cousins’ one-year deal expires, he’ll likely have his ring and hope to have proved that he’s worth big money elsewhere and he’ll be off to another team. Meanwhile, the Jazz will continue improving and potentially even look to make a big splash in free agency next summer to get themselves over the hump that looks more like Mt. Everest right about now.
The Cousins signing, to me, is annoying and wags the middle finger in the face of competitiveness that’s hardly existed past the first round of the NBA Playoffs in recent years. Still, it is what it is and quite frankly won’t change the trajectory or fortune of the Utah Jazz all that much. Golden State was already the best team in the league prior to the signing and they simply will continue to be just that.
Next: Utah Jazz: Grayson Allen makes debut in Jazz blowout
Pretty much all the blockbuster free agent dominoes have already fallen in the first few days of free agency (we should get to enjoy Independence Day this year, hooray!). Nevertheless, there’s bound to still be plenty of exciting league news, as well as Utah Jazz news specifically in the coming days.
With Dante Exum and Raul Neto‘s futures still up in the air, as well as Utah’s sizable mid-level exception amount still available for spending, expect more impactful decisions to be reached in the coming days.