The first five minutes of free agency this summer was absolute pandemonium, and things only got wilder and more confounding as the week pressed on. The NBA landscape underwent a seismic shift — both literal and figurative — as more superstars switched teams in a shorter period than any time in modern memory.
The top-flight free agents like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving went off the board almost immediately, while it took Kawhi Leonard a little more time to manipulate the marionette strings as his own personal drama unfolded. Almost lost in the shuffle was DeMarcus Cousins, who coming off another injury toward the end of last season clearly left teams wary about his long-term health.
Eventually, he would end up with the Lakers, which also meant a reunion with former teammate Anthony Davis, who he played alongside in New Orleans in a tenure that was itself upended by a devastating Achilles injury. Still, the duo showed some brief but tantalizing flashes of the “Fire and Ice” combo that could’ve been under different circumstances. Now, they are apparently both eager about the prospect of revisiting those days on their new team in Los Angeles.
On conference call with reporters, DeMarcus Cousins says he had multiple conversations with Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo about reuniting in LA. He and AD had frequently discussed playing together again and that they didn’t want it to end the first time.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) July 11, 2019
Cousins on playing with AD: “I think we’re a pretty tough big man duo. That’s part of the reason we wanted to become teammates again: we realized how much we made each other better.”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) July 11, 2019
Cautious optimism is likely the best approach when it comes to Boogie this season, as the Lakers have him on an affordable contract, and anything they get from him will be a bonus. For the Lakers, they’ve somehow managed to reassemble the ghosts of two entirely different teams past on a single roster, which is no easy feat, and the efficacy of which is questionable, at best.
