Before playing one second for the Lakers DeMarcus Cousins suffers torn ACL

Wow. Guy can't catch a break.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/ny-demarcus-cousins-possible-knee-injury-20190815-svwnx4ksqbegblb6jk4d22hus4-story.html

"This new injury to Cousins is a massive blow for a Lakers team that features LeBron, Anthony Davis and not much else."

That really sucks.

Cousins has worked hard to control his temper and on-court antics.
It's a shame that injuries have greatly hindered his career.

I'm not sure the Lakers will keep him on the roster, hoping he will come back around playoff time.
I could see waiving him and signing Kenneth Faried, Joakim Noah or Amir Johnson.

I'm confused. Is this he third major, season stopping injury? I thought he was injured before GS (and the Showtime Documentary was about that), then injured @ GS and now before this season with the Lakers.

db

TJ - how can you waive a player with a fully guaranteed contract that no one in the league will pick up?

mrkleen09 wrote:TJ - how can you waive a player with a fully guaranteed contract that no one in the league will pick up?  

Cousins can be waived and the Lakers would eat his $3.5m salary.
Any team can offer him a contract if he's a free agent again.
Maybe the Lakers will keep him.
Rumor has it that Klay Thompson could definitely play before the all-star break but GS is going to be conservative and keep him out until after the AS break.
If LA thinks Cousins could be back in March or April, they could keep him on the roster.

tjmakz wrote:

mrkleen09 wrote:TJ - how can you waive a player with a fully guaranteed contract that no one in the league will pick up?  

Cousins can be waived and the Lakers would eat his $3.5m salary.
Any team can offer him a contract if he's a free agent again.
Maybe the Lakers will keep him.
Rumor has it that Klay Thompson could definitely play before the all-star break but GS is going to be conservative and keep him out until after the AS break.
If LA thinks Cousins could be back in March or April, they could keep him on the roster.

And the Lakers would also eat his salary cap hit correct?

Given his injury history, he is the last person that another team would claim off waivers, and frankly - while I hope the Lakers wait it out, I dont see anyway he is back early from his third major injury in two years.

mrkleen09 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:

mrkleen09 wrote:TJ - how can you waive a player with a fully guaranteed contract that no one in the league will pick up?  

Cousins can be waived and the Lakers would eat his $3.5m salary.
Any team can offer him a contract if he's a free agent again.
Maybe the Lakers will keep him.
Rumor has it that Klay Thompson could definitely play before the all-star break but GS is going to be conservative and keep him out until after the AS break.
If LA thinks Cousins could be back in March or April, they could keep him on the roster.

And the Lakers would also eat his salary cap hit correct?

Given his injury history, he is the last person that another team would claim off waivers, and frankly - while I hope the Lakers wait it out, I dont see anyway he is back early from his third major injury in two years.

The Lakers are well over the salary cap.
Even if the Lakers waived him and another team picked him up off of waivers, the Lakers would still be over the salary cap.
So, it just comes down to eating his $3.5m and signing someone else, if that's the direction the Lakers want to go in.
It's not like Cousins was a great player last year with the Warriors.
He is probably not worth waiting for and tying up a roster spot.

Even without Cousins it won't be the first time a team has relied on 3 outstanding players to put up high fga's and corresponding high pts per game.  (James, Davis and Kuzma)

 swish

5 potential replacement options for DeMarcus Cousins after injury


https://lebronwire.usatoday.com/2019/08/15/5-potential-replacement-options-for-demarcus-cousins-after-injury/5/

I am not a huge Cousens fan, but this is a shame. This guy is jinxed. Those big guys seem to run into problems alot with their legs, AK=CL's, and whatever. He was worked so hard to get back into shape. I really feel terrible for him he has so much talk=ent

Some of those injured bigs never come back to be what they should have been.

Terrible, Terrible

He is a bit too big and slowed down GS. Hard for him to move that load up and down the court.

I do not think they waive him unless they want to piss off AD

Cousin had trimmed down by 25 pounds and was in great shape for this season. He had once been a major force on O for 4 seasons. All gone now.

Could be the end of his career. Big guys with leg injuries are never a good combination.

Also I read where all 3 injuries were to his left leg.