On October 18, Daryl Morey left his General Manager post with the Houston Rockets. The move signaled the end of the Rockets' experiment with analytical small ball that saw them take the court with lineups void of any interior size. With Morey leaving, no longer would the Rockets take the court with the 6 foot 6 PJ Tucker playing Center, or 6 foot 7 Robert Covington (recently traded to Portland) playing Power Forward.
The team made their move back to tradition official on Monday, with the signing of Demarcus Cousins. The 30-year-old, 4-time All-Star spent some of last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, though he never played a game for them, tearing his ACL last August and the team subsequently waiving him on February 23. The prior season Cousins spent with the Golden State Warriors, with whom he signed a 1-year, $5.3 million deal in July of 2018. In 30 games with the Warriors, he averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in just a shade under 26 minutes per game (25.7). He is a career 20 and 10 guy (21.9/10.9), and in his physical prime before his injuries was an athletic beast - 270 pounds with the ability to handle in the open floor, go off the dribble, and score from the outside or inside. No doubt, Cousins will be different now following his injuries - he also tore his Achilles in January of 2018 - but his presence on the Rockets will give them the bonafide scoring big that they have certainly not had in this Harden era.
With rumors abound that Russell Westbrook and Harden will be traded (who knows what will happen over the next few months; reports from Adrian Wojnarowski this week stated that he expects Harden and Westbrook to be on their training camp roster), I think that this deal with Cousins signals that they won't be going anywhere, and that the organization feels that they have a team that can be legitimate Western Conference contenders now playing with a traditional lineup. If you look at this past season's playoff run in the bubble, size was their biggest weakness against a Laker team that could roll out Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard/Javale McGee at one time.
At his peak, Cousins was a monster, putting up stat lines like 44/23/10 (January 22, 2018 vs Chicago), and 55/14/3 blocks (December 20, 2016 vs Portland). Even just a year and a half ago, on April 2, 2019, he reminded everyone once again of his immense talent, going for 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists in just 29 minutes against Nikola Jokic, who many consider the top center in the game at the moment.
With Cousins' ability to play away from the basket, and his ability to pass, it will be fascinating to see him work with Harden and Westbrook, with the latter's great ability to slash to the basket. It will also be refreshing to see the Rockets have the option of dumping the ball down to the a big man who can get his own shot. That has not be the case since Harden has been a Rocket.
With this move for Cousins, I would expect the Rockets to keep their two star guards, or at the very least I believe that the move was in an effort to keep the duo in Houston. In a way, they have their version of a Big 3. A lot of it - most of it, really - is dependent on Cousins' health. In recent photos, he looks to be trim and in shape, the ideal situation for someone who is coming back from and who has dealt with lower leg injuries. On a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, the situation is a low-risk, high reward one for the Rockets.
A reward which could turn out to be very, very rich.
*Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference*
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