On October 22nd, Espn’s Tim MacMahon reported that the Dallas Mavericks, planned to heavily pursue DeMarcus Cousins when he hits free agency in 2018. Cousins will all but certainly leave Sacramento for a championship contender. Cousins to Dallas doesn’t really make a lot of sense as of right now for several reasons.
They have trouble getting players to come to Dallas, in fact they overpaid for Harrison Barnes (4 years, 95 million) during free agency last season. $95 million? For Harrison Barnes? Do you remember how horrible Barnes played during the NBA finals? He couldn’t make a shot to save his life. But Dallas was happy to give him $95 million because they are desperate for players.
Cousins will only be looking at serious championship contenders when he hits the open market. Dallas is not the that right now and they probably won’t be that around 2018. When you think of Dallas, you think of elite head coach Rick Carlisle and future hall of famer Dirk Nowitzki, who will turn 38 during the summer. Dallas right now is nothing more than an average team, who might make the playoffs with the 6th to 8th seed.
Cousins is an emotional player who struggles with maturity issues. We all remember when Rick Carlisle dealt with a similar player in Rajon Rondo two years ago, and you see how that worked out. However, Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the game today. He could help Cousins reach his full potential no doubt.
Remember the western conference is extremely competitive, you have championship contending teams like the Warriors, Spurs, Clippers, Thunder, and the Blazers. Who knows, with all the trade rumors going around, Cousins could be traded before he hits free agency in two seasons. The reality is that Dallas might go hard after Cousins, but if they want to land him, they will have to add some talent around him.
