NBA Rumors: DeMarcus Cousins Drawing Interest For Orlando, Ex-Laker Could Skip Bubble

As the NBA prepares to restart the 2019-2020 season on July 30 in Orlando, Florida, teams will get a week-long transaction window at the end of June. Starting at noon EDT Tuesday, teams can sign free agents that are eligible to play in the league’s eight “seeding” games as well as the playoffs.

Few notable names are available to join the 22 rosters that are headed to the NBA’s Disney “bubble.” DeMarcus Cousins might be the best player that was unsigned when the league was suspended indefinitely on March 11.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, DeMarcus Cousins is drawing interest from teams. Cousins was released by the Los Angeles Lakers in February in order to create a roster spot.

The Lakers signed Cousins to a one-year deal last summer, but he suffered a torn ACL in August. The four-time All-Star hasn’t played a game this season.

There’s a chance that will remain the case. According to Wojnarowski, Cousins will be careful to find the right situation for a potential comeback. He might ultimately choose to sit out the rest of the season and return in the 2020-2021 season after being able to recover for more than a year.

Washington Wizards John Wall recently told The Undefeated that he’s been trying to get his team to sign Cousins, though he likely meant for next season. Washington is unlikely to make the postseason, sitting 5.5 games out of the No.8 seed with eight games to play. Wall won’t play because of his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, and forward Davis Bertans is also expected to skip the NBA’s restart.

Cousins suffered a torn Achilles in January 2018. He returned to the court on Jan. 18, 2019 as a member of the Golden State Warriors, with whom he averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 25.7 minutes per game in 30 contests. Cousins suffered a quad injury in the 2019 playoffs that forced him to sit for another 45 days.

After suffering three significant injuries over the past two years, it’s unknown how effective Cousins might be if he does play in Orlando.