While we’re still nearly two months from the release of NBA 2K19 in September, we’re beginning to learn the ratings for top players and see who has made moves up and down in the virtual basketball world for next season.
LeBron James, unsurprisingly, occupies one of the top spots with a 98, while the trio of rising sophomore stars of Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell all earned 87 overall ratings entering their second seasons. The folks at 2K Sports have also been pretty optimistic when it comes to players returning from injuries this season, as evidence by Kawhi Leonard maintaining a 94 overall rating as he goes to Toronto.
No player in the league is facing a more intriguing return from injury than DeMarcus Cousins, as he looks to battle back from a ruptured Achilles, which has derailed many careers over the years. While much of the league was spooked off of signing Cousins due to that injury this summer, the Warriors were willing to give him a chance on a mid-level deal to see what he can do once back to full strength. Over at 2K, they’re expecting Boogie to be, well, Boogie again, as they gave him a 90 overall rating for 2K19.
I'll take it but I'm bout to show y'all something this year 🙏🏾 @NBA2K #NBA2K19 pic.twitter.com/WXTmgKUkLd
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) July 21, 2018
It will be interesting to see how that changes once he comes back, but for now they’re giving him the benefit of the doubt that when he gets back he’ll be just about as strong as ever. Cousins sounds plenty motivated to prove everyone doubting him wrong, most notably all the teams that passed on him, and hopefully he’s able to do so because, when right, he’s one of the league’s most fun players.
