When the LA Clippers signed DeMarcus Cousins to only a 10-day contract, it was as low of a risk as the team could ask for.
They needed help and Cousins gave them a player who could possibly produce but had an injury history that kept him from being productive over the past few seasons. That didn’t matter since the signing was an insurance move. Given that Serge Ibaka was still out and the team only had one other healthy true center (Ivica Zubac) on the roster, they needed a body and getting to evaluate Cousins was an added bonus.
Now that his contract is about to be up, it appears the LA Clippers are going to hang onto DeMarcus Cousins.
While the team hasn’t confirmed anything just yet, head coach Ty Lue more or less told media after Wednesday’s win over Detroit that Cousins would be back.
"We look forward for him to continue on, he was big for us. The toughest thing is late in the game, it’s hard for us to run plays because he really hasn’t caught up yet as far as the plays because we haven’t had a lot of practice time. So that kind of stumped us a little bit. But his playing, just knowing the game and IQ, to be able to shoot it, to post up, and bring physicality is great for our team. We just gotta bring him up to speed on the playbook just so we can kind of call more sets when he’s in the game."
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the head coach saying they want to get someone up to speed so they can call plays for him means the player will be with the team long-term.
There were recent rumors that Yogi Ferrell would sign for the team which means someone on the roster would have to be let go. While it seemed much more likely that the player would be Malik Fitts (also on a 10-day contract), we couldn’t be sure. Now, that seems much more set in stone.
The team still hasn’t released a timetable for Ibaka’s return, so having Cousins on the roster for the rest of the season just makes sense. While he doesn’t seem like he has the best movement of his career, he has been serviceable.
In three games for the Clippers, Cousins has put up 6.0 points on 46.7% shooting (33.3% from deep), 3.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in just 9.7 minutes. Nothing earth-shattering but not bad for a third big on the roster.
He probably won’t be a contributor come playoffs but Cousins is a welcome permanent addition and gives the LA Clippers some much-needed depth.