Warriors Should Start DeMarcus Cousins But Keep Him on a Serious Minutes Restriction
By Zack Jiang
DeMarcus Cousins is officially cleared for Game 1 of the NBA Finals and will give the Warriors another All-Star chess piece to work with as they take on the Raptors. But that's all he should be allowed to be in this series-- one single chess piece.
The Warriors have excelled without Cousins, who went down early in the first round against the Clippers. They're able to feed Steph and Klay offensively and play at a much higher pace, and Draymond Green looks as good as he's ever been. While Cousins definitely gives the Warriors additional options on offense, they need to limit his minutes carefully and keep from relying on him for major contributions in crunch time.
DeMarcus Cousins (quad) will be active to play for Game 1, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/VeWxSOrLA4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 30, 2019
Depending on Cousins' health, he could be used as a serious mismatch against Serge Ibaka down low, and is certainly an upgrade over Andrew Bogut offensively. However, if the Warriors push him too hard, they'll disrupt a delicate balance and bring about more negatives than positives.
Playing Cousins allows the Raptors to keep Marc Gasol on the court, who has excelled at gobbling up All-Star big men this playoffs in stretches, including Joel Embiid and Nikola Vucevic. Matching up Cousins and Gasol not only would take away Boogie's usefulness, but it also takes away a pace advantage they need to maximize whenever Gasol on the floor.
Kevon Looney doesn’t expect it to be difficult to phase DeMarcus Cousins back in given their experience doing that this season pic.twitter.com/hK3Qy0XWXr
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 30, 2019
Limiting Cousins' minutes isn't labeling him useless. If he can use his athleticism and footwork to get Gasol and Ibaka into foul trouble, he'll do well for himself. As a go-to scorer when matched up against smaller bigs, he presents an enticing option. He should be matched up with Ibaka's minutes and will be very valuable during these types of stretches. But there's no "Death Lineup" that involves him. That's not the way this team is built, and his health can't possibly permit such a thing regardless.
Boogie can be used as a situational player to positive effect. If Steve Kerr decides to play him major minutes, however, he'll only be hurting his team.