Report: Cousins Suffered a Torn Left Quad; Likely Out of Playoffs

[jpotter33]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2831563-report-demarcus-cousins-quad-injury-suffered-vs-clippers-diagnosed-as-tear

Golden State Warriors star DeMarcus Cousins has reportedly received an official diagnosis on the quad injury he suffered in Game 2 of the team's first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Cousins' MRI revealed a torn left quad.

Charania added Cousins and the Warriors will see how the injury responds to two weeks of rehab before officially ruling him out for the remainder of the postseason.

While Golden State did not know the extent of Cousins' injury immediately after Game 2, coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that his big man would likely be out "a while."

"There's a pretty significant quad injury," Kerr said.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the initial prognosis was that Cousins had suffered a torn left quad.

The latest development is a tough blow for a player who was seeing the first postseason action of his nine-year career.

Boogie never sniffed the playoffs while spending the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Sacramento Kings. His New Orleans Pelicans made the playoffs last season in his first full year with the team. However, he was sidelined by a season-ending Achilles injury suffered in January 2018.

Signing with Golden State last offseason figured to give Cousins the opportunity to recover from his Achilles injury while still putting himself in position to play in the postseason for the first time. After missing the first 45 games of the season, the 28-year-old had been an impact player for the two-time defending champs.

He averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 30 regular-season appearances. He recorded 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting and grabbed 11 boards in 25 minutes of action over the course of four-plus quarters this postseason.

For now, he can only watch as his team looks to progress in the postseason without him.

Cousins will enter free agency while recovering from injury for the second consecutive year. While Kerr initially made it clear that this figured to be a one-year stint for Boogie, Warriors general manager Bob Myers said on Warriors Pregame Live (h/t NBC Sports' Marcus White) in November 2018 that the team would be open to re-signing the center.

Big blow or naw?

[SparzWizard]

Hate to say it but he's looking like Andrew Bynum. Can't stay healthy out there.

[RPGenerate]

I'd say it's a blow. They were banking on him becoming a positive contributor. Without him, their bench is even more atrocious.

[Green-18]

I have a hard time calling this a major loss.  The Warriors greatest threat is their own lack of motivation.  They have no excuses to lose with a healthy Curry, Thompson, Durant, and Green.  I'm not sure that Cousins moves the needle very far in either direction.  There's only one basketball and Cousins doesn't do many productive things away from it.

[Who]

More of a good thing for GSW than a bad thing for GSW.

Cousins too much of a liability on defense.

[CelticsElite]

Bigger question is: who's going to sign cousins now, and for how much? Wonder if the market will continue to be slim for him now that he's injured again.

Last time the warriors and Celtics were the only teams in consideration. If the warriors bow out, I wonder if ainge is still interested. Davis and cousins didn't really work together if you look at all the advanced statistics

[Monkhouse]

Has anyone actually watched Cousins this year? He's been a net negative on defense, and gets way too exploited easily on PnR.

While I feel bad, because injuries was once again the main issue for why he didn't receive any serious NBA offers, but now it seems like DMC is not only injury prone, but just too slow for the pace of today's NBA. He would need to adapt and adopt a similar mindset/mentality that Brook Lopez did, and convert/translate his game over into utilizing his passing, strength, and body to try to contest more shots while improving his 3 pointer.

[Who]

Celtics now the clear cut #1 most talented team in the league now that Cousins is no longer available for the Warriors.

They have the best squad. A brilliant core. Terrific depth.

The Celtics are the team to beat. Title favourite.

[Green-18]

More of a good thing for GSW than a bad thing for GSW.

Cousins too much of a liability on defense.

I stopped myself short of calling it more of a good thing than bad thing, but I certainly understand where you're coming from.  You could argue that the injury makes life easier for Steve Kerr in a potential match-up with Houston.  Would Cousins have been able to handle restricted minutes if he was proving to be too much of a defensive liability, or would Kerr just ride it out with the same rotation regardless of the results?

The reason I stopped myself short is because Cousins could have easily been the difference maker in a couple of big games throughout the playoffs.

[Who]

Has anyone actually watched Cousins this year? He's been a net negative on defense, and gets way too exploited easily on PnR.

While I feel bad, because injuries was once again the main issue for why he didn't receive any serious NBA offers, but now it seems like DMC is not only injury prone, but just too slow for the pace of today's NBA. He would need to adapt and adopt a similar mindset/mentality that Brook Lopez did, and convert/translate his game over into utilizing his passing, strength, and body to try to contest more shots while improving his 3 pointer.

I don't think Cousins needs to adapt his offensive game. His main problem in GSW is that they have too many weapons. Durant is an MVP and former lead leaguing scorer. Steph Curry is arguably the best offensive threat in the game. Then there is Klay who is one of the best SGs in the league. A 20+ppg threat. And Draymond Green to fit in as well.

When Durant was out injured, Golden State played beautiful basketball with Cousins in a larger role. He fit in brilliantly with the Warriors pass and move system.

The offense is still there. The defense is an issue but the offense is still there. Cousins needs to be on a team where he can have a larger offensive role to overcome his defensive limitations.

There was talk that Cousins was interested in returning to GSW if Durant leaves but not if Durant stays -- and I think that is right, for him (Cousins). There is a vacant role there for Cousins if Durant leaves that allows Cousins to re-establish himself as a top offensive player and he is a great fit in their offensive system. If Durant stays, there isn't enough of a role for Cousins and he would be better off somewhere else (maybe Portland for a year while Nurkic is out injured).

Cousins = it is his passing, ball-handling and driving ability that make him a much more talented offensive option than a Brook Lopez. Cousins is not as stagnant (with or without the ball). Cousins creates far more advantageous situations for his team and can create both for himself and for others. He can run the fastbreak. They can iso the wing for him. They can post him up on switches. He can draw double teams. He can pass from the high post to cutters. So many extra offensive weapons. Cousins still has a lot to give on that end of the court.

[celticsclay]

Bigger question is: who's going to sign cousins now, and for how much? Wonder if the market will continue to be slim for him now that he's injured again.

Last time the warriors and Celtics were the only teams in consideration. If the warriors bow out, I wonder if ainge is still interested. Davis and cousins didn't really work together if you look at all the advanced statistics

I feel like they were actually playing pretty good together that second year before Cousins got hurt. Is that not true?

[footey]

Bigger question is: who's going to sign cousins now, and for how much? Wonder if the market will continue to be slim for him now that he's injured again.

Last time the warriors and Celtics were the only teams in consideration. If the warriors bow out, I wonder if ainge is still interested. Davis and cousins didn't really work together if you look at all the advanced statistics

I feel like they were actually playing pretty good together that second year before Cousins got hurt. Is that not true?

They played great together against us that year.  Owned us in Boston.

[Androslav]

Warriors lost their 6th best player.
This hurts their depth considerably.
Iggy and Shaun got older thru the years.
This puts more pressure on their starters.
Curry and Durant in particular.

[PhoSita]

Has anyone actually watched Cousins this year? He's been a net negative on defense, and gets way too exploited easily on PnR.

He was a slower, taller version of Mo Speights, basically.

[Androslav]

Has anyone actually watched Cousins this year? He's been a net negative on defense, and gets way too exploited easily on PnR.

He was a slower, taller version of Mo Speights, basically.

In his mold. Better passer, worse shooter.
But Mo was more avaliable and cheaper.