The two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors, armed with only the taxpayer mid-level exception, used their free agent spending allowance on DeMarcus Cousins, a four-time all-star center. That’s completely bonkers given the addition of Cousins would give the Warriors All-NBA caliber players at every position on the court if he’s healthy, an embarrassment of riches even for them.
It’s a steep comedown for Cousins, who was in the midst of his most productive season with the New Orleans Pelicans when he tore his Achilles last January. Before the injury, he was surely thinking he’d be in line for another max payday in free agency this summer. Instead he signed with the champs for a little over $5 million.
Earlier in the day, the Pels replaced Boogie with Julius Randle, a versatile and talented young forward whose restricted free agent rights were renounced by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers executed that unexpected move to free up money to sign Rajon Rondo, who got his career back on track with New Orleans playing with Cousins.
Rondo, of course, was also a former teammate of Cousins in Sacramento, where they played on one of the most dysfunctional teams in recent memory. Who would have guessed that one day Cousins would be teaming up with the star-studded Warriors, while Rondo would be playing alongside LeBron James in Los Angeles?
This is all rather shocking, and so very NBA. Let’s take this slow. There’s a lot to unpack.
Signing Cousins is the kind of risk a team like Golden State can take and just about no one else. The Warriors don’t need Boogie to win championships. In fact, their best lineups have no centers. But the Warriors like having 7-footers on hand, which is how they went into last postseason with a bunch of big men on their roster who rarely played.
In Cousins, they get a true monster of a big man, but the Achilles injury is not insignificant. It has felled many a giant over the years, and there’s no telling how it will affect Boogie, who isn’t likely to be ready to play until December or January.
The Warriors don’t really need Boogie and Boogie doesn’t really need to do anything but rehab and get ready for the playoffs. This was a true luxury signing, considering the cost in real dollars will be more like $20 million given their luxury tax situation.
That bill is a little easier to take, given that Kevin Durant left a bit of money on the table specifically so the Warriors would sign a free agent. Take shots at KD all you like, but his contract maneuvering has made it less painful financially for the Warriors to retain Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, while also adding Cousins.
Perhaps even more surprising than the signing, was the revelation per ESPN’s Chris Haynes, that Boogie’s choice came down to Golden State and Boston, of all teams.
The Celtics could have had Boogie at various points over the years, but never went all-out in an effort to acquire the big man due to various concerns about well, everything.
You may remember that the Pels really took off after Boogie’s injury when Anthony Davis shifted over to center full-time. That’s the thing with Cousins, who was averaging 25 and 12 at the time of the injury. All those numbers, and it’s not at all clear if he really impacts winning.
But these are the Warriors and surely this will all work out for them.
The Pels really made out here. In a world where Cousins doesn’t get hurt, they’d be on the hook for a massive extension to continue a twin towers experiment that was only sorta kinda working. In this one, they get a 23-year-old forward who averaged 16-and-8 for $9 million. Randle should form a delightful frontcourt trio with Nikola Mirotic and AD, who gets to stay at the position that maximizes his immense talent.
One would have thought that the Lakers would have held onto Randle, given his age and talent. Instead, the Lakers used that space to sign Rondo, who plans of challenging Lonzo Ball for the starting point guard job. (Please lord, grant us one Lavar vs. Rajon dustup.) Rondo at least fits the criteria of player who can think the game, as LeBron spelled out during the Finals.
“Rondo was calling out sets every time you come down,” James said at the time. “It was like, OK, this is bigger than basketball.”
Several years and many basketball lifetimes after having breakfast with Kobe Bryant while still a member of the Celtics, Rondo is finally a Laker. We were all so much younger then.
The Lakers went into the summer thinking they could get two max free agents. It would have likely cost them Randle, but it would have been worth it to get a player the caliber of say, Paul George.
Instead, they used that space to re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and add Rondo, JaVale McGee, and Lance Stephenson to one-year deals.
This is going to be one hell of a weird basketball team. They have LeBron and LeBron tends to make everything better, but this is not the scenario many of us envisioned when James was making his free agent decision.
In sum, the Warriors get an All-NBA big man on the cheap, the Pelicans get a versatile young big man, and the Lakers got a bunch of random guys to team with the greatest player of his generation.
What a bizarre offseason.
Comments
Randle was a good pick up
a one plus one worth $9 mill per is a steal
By not_A_homer on 07.03.18 10:22am
frog
By Ryan McScrew on 07.03.18 10:46am
F- the warriors
The true kings of the NBA..Who has been quiet .Is reawaking like a sleeping giant..the Lakers will find the anwser to this unstoppable foe..Why ? because its the Lakers..
By The Ghost of Sepulveda on 07.03.18 10:56am
No, that’s not how it works
They have to actually acquire more great players first. When they land Kawhi, then let’s chat. But in the meantime, when they inevitably sign Jahlil Okafor and Vince Carter in the coming days, stand down.
By Fred Mercury on 07.03.18 11:48am
gotta admit
The warriors do remind me of the lakers back in there heyday.. all the stars wanted and signed there..they would almost do it for nothing..just wanted to be a part of something special..If you are a Warriors fan.. have fun enjoy the moment..But sooner or later..The Lakers will come to get you…bank on it..
By The Ghost of Sepulveda on 07.03.18 11:57am
I know you and other Laker fans are having delusions of grandeur that Kawhi and Klay are coming to the Lakers next year
or some scenario(s) along those lines, but a lot can happen in a year. And, Boston can easily outbid L.A. for Kawhi of it comes down to it.
By Fred Mercury on 07.03.18 12:42pm
Kawhi, has already been quoted as saying…he wanted to go to the team he rooted for as a kid:. The Lakers.
Boston’s young team, is a great team, whom played in the semi finals…and they have Kyrie and Hayward coming back.
Danny Ainge is not giving up assets for a one year rental.
By Rush717 on 07.03.18 1:19pm
Cool, but he’s not on the team yet
Paul George was supposed to be a Laker too. Obviously his and Kawhi’s situations are totally different, but I wouldn’t take anything for granted.
By Fred Mercury on 07.03.18 2:17pm
delusions of grandeur..
Right now..your team has the upper hand..Cant argue that..A team that is worthy of being world champs..A true team of the ages.
there is no delusions here..whatever happens ?..Just faith in my team..
My team the Lakers always finds a way..
Veni,vidi,vici..Go lakers..Go Laker nation
By The Ghost of Sepulveda on 07.03.18 1:59pm
Hey, let’s just hope that LeBron’s hand eventually heals up
An injury that severe could cause him problems for the next 3-4 seasons.
By Fred Mercury on 07.03.18 2:20pm
JR Smith would fit nicely on that Lakers' team...
By KapIsMyHomeboy on 07.05.18 8:50am
They obviously don't...
always find a way. No playoffs for 5 years, swept in 1st round 6 years ago, and no championship in 9 years. They will probably eventually get back but they certainly do not always find a way.
By Los Diablo on 07.03.18 4:44pm
It has been a long drought ..Laker standard wise..
it is strange to me.. Not used to losing..Neither is magic..Lebron is a start..had to start somewhere..yeah he needs more than just him..But it is a start.
By The Ghost of Sepulveda on 07.03.18 4:54pm
Times they are a-changin'
Used to be no one would come to the Warriors. David Lee was the first reasonably big name who chose us, although his first year was through a trade.
Success changes the designation of the Bay Area from a "small market" to a "large market."
By achiappanza on 07.09.18 3:24pm
Why is Cousins a thug?
I am interested to see you put that MSU dioloma to use.
By Big Daddy Thundrmug on 07.03.18 11:48am
This League is heading in a very dangerous direction.
Competition is getting worse and worse, year after year. The consequences could be catastrophic.
By Al_Capone on 07.03.18 12:00pm
I agree
There is maybe twenty four other teams that may as well just cancel the season. A lot of fans will not pay the $$$ just to have their favorite teams game over by half-time.
By Rush717 on 07.03.18 1:28pm
there are 29 other teams outside of the Warriors!! you dont play the Warriors every week so if your favourite teams game is over by half time your team flat out sucks & yous have NO ONE to blame but yourselves!!
By J-Mel da Wise #1 on 07.03.18 8:21pm
Not to mention the Warriors will be the biggest draw in the league...
AND, they have successfully turned James Harden into Red Klotz. Leflop might fill that role too.
By KapIsMyHomeboy on 07.05.18 8:58am
What's good for the player isn't...
..necessarily good for the fans…or even other players.
A lot of the fan and player reactions to the Boogie signing was the complaint that the Warriors will now be an uber-juggernaut, and that the NBA will be even less competitive.
Who’s to blame? Actually…the players. By way of the CBA.
Remember when LeBron first bolted from the Cavs? He was hailed in many quarters as being a pioneer, as a player who is finally flexing his abilities to control his own destiny. Many praised him conspiring with Bosh and Wade to make this happen – after all, aren’t championships how we measure our athletes?
Durant flees OKC to join the Warriors. And although there is some ignominy in joining a 73-win team that just beat you, he answers that question: "after all, aren’t championships how we measure our athletes?".
In all the speculation regarding LeBron, many used the same metric to find his next destination. There is a reason why places like Philly and Houston were bandied about – and LA was usually thrown into the discussion because of the possibility of Kawhi. The root was still there – pair him with the players best able to win a championship.
Boogie is no different – the Warriors were prohibitive favorites to win it all again before his pickup – and his one-year deal is pretty clear: grab a ring, rehab like hell, up your stock, then cash in when you’re a free agent again next year. Who can blame him?
But if it’s not the Warriors who are collecting All-Stars, it will be another team. For the top players, the key is simple – sign 1+1 contracts with a budding superteam, collect your ring, then cash out. When the superteam epicenters switch to Boston/Philly, then you’ll likely see the same thing.
The NBA can easily nip this in the bud with a hard cap. But let’s see how many NBA players would agree to that. Until that happens, this may be the new NBA.
By talis2469 on 07.03.18 1:58pm
Yeah, a hard cap would make creating super teams via free agency impossible
I hate the NFL’s hard cap in some respects, but like it in others. It makes things much more interesting and makes the draft insanely important. Though, I think even if the NFL had a soft cap, the impact of big free agent signings is much lower than in the NBA, so I don’t think we’d see the kind of super teams winning titles that we do in the NBA.
By Fred Mercury on 07.03.18 2:28pm
Good to see other fans not on here that actually keep perspective about the game itself...
About half of the teams in the league are under. 500 and we are supposed to celebrate more of the "super team’ dominance.
It is another reason why I find so much of the current day NBA unwatchable and believe that sooner or later the NBA will pay the price for its greed.
By Boxing Rules on 07.03.18 3:12pm
But it wouldn't make the Warriors impossible, which is what people are complaning about
Ironically, the Super Villains were built "The Right Way."
By achiappanza on 07.09.18 4:18pm