Dont blame DeMarcus Cousins for making genius move

At first blush, there is not much to like about the signing of center DeMarcus Cousins by the Warriors. Cousins is the best offensive center in the league, after all, and the Warriors are winners of three championships in the last Kareem Hunt Jersey four years, a franchise that already took advantage of a twist in the NBA salary cap two summers ago to pilfer one of the two best players in the league, Kevin Durant.The Warriors on Monday , collecting another NBA All-Star the way a hoarder collects yesterdays newspaper. Unle s you live in the Bay Area, this signing can only make you shake your head in consternation. Why bother playing out next season when the Warriors are so many miles ahead of everyone else?MORE: Thats a fair bit of frustration. But dont blame Cousins, Ozzie Newsome Jersey who blew out his Achilles in January. Cousins is trying to rescue his career here, and he could not have picked a smarter way to do so than going to Golden State for a year.Because of the injury, he might not be ready for training camp. He has insisted his goal was to play the opener, and that is still po sible when Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles Duke Johnson Jersey tendon in April 2013, he returned the following December. If Cousins follows a similar timeline, he has a shot at the opener, or at least a November return.But everyone heals at a different pace, and Cousins will want to be T. J. Carrie Jersey cautious. A return in January or even February a full year of recovery might make more sense for a guy who is only 27 and wants to play another eight-to-10 years.Thats where signing with the Warriors was such a shrewd move on Cousins part. He will go to Golden State, which has one of the leagues best training and medical staffs, and be Joe Thomas Jersey able to patiently wait out his return. The Warriors wont need him in the early season. Heck, they dont need him at all, which means theres no pre sure on his return.When he does come back, the Warriors can offer something no other team could guarantee: Playing deep into May, and with a near-certain chance at going into mid-June.Thats critical for what Cousins is trying to do here. Its not so much that the Warriors need him to win again. Its that he Antonio Callaway Jersey needs the Warriors as a stage on which he can show he is healthy and put himself back into contention for a max contract in the summer of 2019, when he will return to free agency and find more teams with cap space available once there.MORE: With the Warriors, if he returns in January, he will get six months of basketball to knock off the rust, then perform in the playoffs when the entire NBA world will be Cleveland Browns Jersey watching. That was the reason he was also considering the same contract offer from the Celtics, who are the favorites to go the Finals in the East. But the Warriors, he decided, are more of a sure thing. And hes likely to get a ring for his troubles.If Cousins had re-signed with the Pelicans the most likely outcome had Austin Seibert Jersey he not made this bold move he might have had six months total, including his recovery time. Thats too much pre sure.New Orleans advanced to the second round of the playoffs this year, but, remember, the Pelsearned a postseason spot in the final week, making the field over Denver with a cushion of only two games. They lost point guard Rajon Rondo to the Lakers on Monday, and could easily mi s the postseason this year.If Cousins had returned to New Orleans in January, its po sible he would have had only three months to prove his Myles Garrett Jersey value as a free agent the following summer. That wont happen with the Warriors.For most of us observing the league, then, what happened with Cousins was another crime against parity committed by the Warriors, another example of a league that is letting its best team run roughshod as the other 29 teams prepare to fight for participant trophies. Bernie Kosar Jersey It is, understandably, .For Cousins, though, this move was genius. It is exactly what he needs to get himself back into mix among top free agents. Related Articles Three factors that led to DeMarcus Cousins signing with Warriors