It was reported Tuesday that DeMarcus Cousins is signing with the Guaynabo Mets of the Puerto Rican professional basketball league, one day after he said he would be the third-best center if he played in the NBA today.
Cousins made the shocking claim while talking with Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett on Monday on the “KG Certified” podcast.
With a slight hint of modesty, Cousins is presumably placing himself behind Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, who are the two frontrunners for MVP this season. For the former four-time All-Star to say that he could jump right into game action and be better than the other 28 starting centers in the league, however, is bold, to say the least.
Cousins hasn’t played since last year when he split 48 regular contests between the Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks. Cousins averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 15.0 minutes per contest and made seven starts while posting a .460/.303/.760 shooting line. He appeared in all five of Denver’s playoff games last spring as Jokic’s backup, averaging 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 11.4 minutes per tilt.
Despite having played with Jokic last season, Cousins said in March that he believed this was the year for Embiid to finally dethrone the two-time reigning MVP.
While the 32-year-old longtime member of the Sacramento Kings will now have time to show why he deserves another shot in the NBA, it’d be foolish to think he’s a top-three center in the association right now. Outside of Embiid and Jokic, some of the best centers in the league right now include Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat and Domantas Sabonis of the Kings (both of whom were All-Stars this year), as well as Clint Capela of the Atlanta Hawks and Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Cousins “stayed in shape” this season and had a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers but never received an offer to sign.
