Wake up, NBA! Sign John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins
Considering the dearth of talent featured at the end of NBA benches, it is basketball roster malpractice that John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins remain free agents. A team needs to wise up and bring these guys into their fold. They are too talented and too young to be making podcasts year-round already.
John Wall is the most egregious roster omission. After a tumultuous and brief tenure with the Houston Rockets, things were looking up for the five-time All-Star when the LA Clippers signed him in the offseason. Wearing that familiarly beautiful blue #11 jersey, Wall played well considering it took some time to get his court legs under him, having missed much of the previous few seasons.
Wall averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 34 games with the Clippers before the team waived him, in part because they traded for Russell Westbrook. While those numbers are career lows for Wall, they came in a bench role and in just 22 minutes per game.
Wall is only 32 years old with plenty of basketball left in him. There are multiple contenders in need of a backup point guard who should be welcoming the veteran playmaker. What is holding them back?
Well, an unbiased writer who did not do the John Wall dance ad nauseam during the 2009-2010 Kentucky season and who does not still regularly hit the Dougie with Wizards debut enthusiasm might argue injury risk. Wall missed his last 15 games with the Clippers due to an abdominal injury that very well could be lingering.
Also, sitting out last season due to disgruntlement is not exactly the type of blip on the résumé that attracts employers.
Still, talent rules all in the NBA, and Wall has too much of it to sit on his couch.
DeMarcus Cousins needs to be on a roster too
The Denver Nuggets picked up DeMarcus Cousins for their playoff march last season but inexplicably did not re-sign him in the offseason. Instead, they chose the older and demonstrably less-talented DeAndre Jordan to be MVP Nikola Jokic’s backup.
For comparison, Cousins averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game with the Nuggets while Jordan is averaging 4.8 points and 4.8 rebounds this season for Denver, also in 14 minutes per game.
And don’t blame Boogie’s unfairly-bad reputation. He and Nuggets head coach, Mike Malone, had a great relationship. While there is no doubt there are multiple general managers who let the rumors of Cousins’ attitude outweigh assessing actual reality, it is hard to justify the Nuggets being one of them.
Regardless, Boogie’s talent speaks for itself, and here’s a stat to prove it: Out of all active NBA players, the guy who leads everyone with the most 30+ points and 20+ rebound games is, you guessed it, DeMarcus Cousins, with 10 (Anthony Davis is second with eight). And while no one is arguing the 32-year-old has a plethora of those types of games left, Boogie can still ball and it is an injustice that league politics are keeping him sidelined.
There is also something to be said for a veteran presence in the locker room, especially from someone who has seen it all like Cousins. Following the Ja Morant incident last week, Boogie voiced a similar sentiment on Twitter. He’s not wrong.
Which teams would be a good fit for Wall and Cousins?
At this point in their careers, these guys are most likely looking for a team with title aspirations. So, who is out there in need of veteran awesomeness? Let’s start with John Wall.
For me, the Phoenix Suns jump out as the best fit. They recently traded for Kevin Durant in are clearly in a win-now mode. Is former Murray State Racer, Cameron Payne, their solution at backup point guard behind Chris Paul? Maybe, but I’d much rather entrust my title hopes to a guy who was in the All-Star game while the other one was in the G-League.
The Memphis Grizzlies also stand out as a solid match. Clearly, Ja Morant is going to be going through some things the rest of the season, and bringing in someone who has been open about his own struggles could help tremendously.
For Cousins, how poetic would it be if he finished his career where it started, in Sacramento? The fans there still love him and he recently praised the team, including a shoutout to De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. Their surprising success this season makes them an attractive team for someone hoping to make a roster better suited for a deep playoff run, and it would give the Kings four former Kentucky players as an added bonus.
The Los Angeles Lakers worked out Cousins a few weeks ago but passed on his services. So, aside from the Kings and Nuggets, it would not be a bad idea for the Grizzlies to sign him for reasons similar as Wall. Cousins and Wall almost went to college in Memphis until John Calipari brought them to Kentucky, so in yet another serendipitous hypothetical, seeing either one reboot their careers in that city would be incredibly apropos.
Wise up, NBA! Sign these two Kentucky legends.
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