Warriors Keep Adding Star Players
Yesterday, Center DeMarcus Cousins signed a one year contract with the Golden State Warriors for $5.3 million dollars. With Cousins now on the team, the Warriors are now considered to have one of the best starting lineups in NBA history. Cousins had surgery on his Achilles tendon in his left foot this past February and he still has to recover from the injury meaning that Cousins might not play his first game as a Warrior until December or January.
When Cousins plays his first game with the Warriors, this is what the starting lineup for the Warriors is probably going to look like.
Point Guard: Stephen Curry
Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson
Small Forward: Kevin Durant
Power Forward: Draymond Green
Center: DeMarcus Cousins
You know what is nice about this Warriors lineup? It's that four out of these five guys averaged over 20 points per game last year. Curry averaged 26.4 PPG last year. Durant averaged 26.4 PPG last year. Thompson averaged 20 PPG last year. Even Cousins averaged 25.2 PPG last year. I don't know about you but I do not remember when an NBA team had four players out of five guys in a starting lineup that all averaged at least 20 PPG in the season before.
Everybody was wondering where Cousins would end up. Some people thought he would go to the Lakers or the Trail Blazers or the Celtics or perhaps even stay in New Orleans. But he decided to go to the Warriors. Cousins made a decision for himself as he probably thought about which team is the best place for him to get a ring. He decided Golden State would be the best option as he did not care how much money he was making as long as he was on a winning team and now he is on a winning team. Even if Cousins does not ball out this season as long as he gets a ring, I promise you there will be a big smile on that man's face.
Since Cousins won't make his debut until in the middle of the season and now Center JaVale McGee signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and Center Zaza Pachulia is currently a free agent. The Warriors need to think about who is going to start at center for their team once the regular season begins next season. I could see the Warriors either resigning Pachulia or turning their other Centers Jordan Bell or Damian Jones into an absolute super star. Who knows the Warriors might even find another Center that they could get at a cheap price that can be effective with Durant, Curry, Green and Thompson.
I honestly feel once DeMarcus is healthy again this Golden State Warriors team is going to be dominant and it is going to be amazing. Remember when the Warriors were 73-9 in the 2015-16 NBA regular season? I felt if DeMarcus was healthy to begin next season that the Warriors would have a chance to have the best record in NBA history and beat their franchise record for most games won in a regular season.
I remember when I was intermediate school, from 2009-2012, that my classmates and I would make fun of the Warriors because of how bad they were. We would make fun of them because the Warriors were considered one of the worst NBA teams back then. Before I entered middle school in August 2012 the Warriors made the playoffs one time in the previous 18 seasons. The one time that the Warriors in those previous 18 seasons was in the 2006-07 NBA season when they were the number 8 seed in the West and they defeated the number 1 seed in the West, Dallas Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs. The Warriors defeating the Mavericks back in the first round of the 2007 playoffs was considered one of the biggest upsets ever in an NBA playoff series. The Warriors would later lose to the Jazz in the semifinals of the playoffs that year.
The fact that the Warriors turned themselves from a team that had a very tough time making to the playoffs to a team that is constantly making the NBA Finals is simply amazing.
I don't think Cousins will be the only notable athlete signing with the Warriors this offseason as there has to be other NBA players that would take a pay cut to have a better chance at winning a championship ring. We will see if the Warriors, with the help of Cousins, can 3-peat.