DeMarcus Cousins Reaches a Deal With The Houston Rockets

DeMarcus Cousins has officially signed with the Houston Rockets.

The four-time All-Star just inked a one year deal with the squad today. The signing makes this his third team he’s joined in the last three years since his Achilles injury in 2018.

Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN was the first to break the news on Twitter:

With the signing, it looks like the Houston front office wants to run it back with their stars one more time. Multiple teams have offered trades for James Harden and Russel Westbrook since the free agency period began on the November 18. Many rumors have gone around the league saying that Harden wants to leave the team. His preferred destination seems to be Brooklyn, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. In addition, the Clippers and Wizards have contacted Houston about Westbrook, but they’ve decided not to pull the trigger on any of those offers.

Nevertheless, Cousins gives Houston something they haven’t had since Dwight Howard: An All-Star Center. When Cousins is healthy, he is definitely a top center in the league.  Sadly, he’s been bitten with the injury bug and is recently coming off an ACL injury last season with the Lakers. The last season Cousins played he averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds a game with the Golden State Warriors (30 games: 2017-18).

With him, alongside the tandem of Harden and Westbrook, he could be a key piece for Houston this season. The Rockets small ball experiment crashed and burned when they received the gentleman’s sweep in the playoffs against the Lakers. Their current center, P.J. Tucker, was a total mismatch for Anthony Davis, which led to the team’s downfall.

Cousins could definitely be a matchup nightmare for a lot of opposing centers in the West, which could help in a playoff run. Almost every team is getting better in the west so this is a last chance move for the franchise. If this works out, these guys could stick around for years to come. If not, Houston will have to go into rebuild mode. 

This season is a redemption year not just for the Rockets but for Cousins as well. Houston fans will have to hope for the best as the season starts in less than a month from now.