DeMarcus Cousins: Teams 'slammed the door shut' on my $5.3 million offer
DeMarcus Cousins made his thunderous return to the court Friday night, earning a standing ovation in his first game with the Golden State Warriors.
Cousins was sidelined with a torn Achilles for nearly a full calendar year. In his lowest moments, he told Shams Charania of The Athletic, he contemplated if he wanted to continue with the rehab and NBA career.
His former club, the New Orleans Pelicans, declined to make the four-time All-Star an offer in free agency and, as he told Charania, other teams “slammed the door shut on me.”
The 27-year-old Cousins landed with the reigning champions, but shared with Charania and The Athletic his frustrations from last summer.
Pelicans could have had Cousins, Davis
Cousins is still hurt by his departure from the Pelicans, where he was beginning to see results with Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo as they put the franchise in a winning direction. Cousins helped recruit Rondo and advocated for the post-injury trade that brought in Nikola Mirotic.
The 6-foot-11 All-Star maintains that the Pelicans, who traded for him during the 2017 All-Star weekend, did not make him an offer in free agency.
“I think about our pairing all the time,” he told The Athletic. “Me and AD talk about it. It’s f—ed up. It could’ve been something great, something special, but other people had different things in mind. That’s out of our control, and you never know what’ll happen later on down the line.”
The team reportedly made a two-year, $40 million extension offer during the season but after his injury. He turned it down and the Pelicans took it off the table, per the report.
Teams ‘slammed the door shut’
The Sacramento Kings and Pelicans had each shown their intentions to keep him within the past 18 months only to leave him behind. The Lakers became distant and number of teams with salary cap space kept dropping. On the first day of free agency, Cousins told his inner circle he was targeting the Warriors, per The Athletic, and the next day he called the Warriors’ higher ups.
“The people I reached out to … man, the teams I was talking to, and how they slammed the phone in my face,” Cousins said. “They all slammed the door shut on me. I wish I could share those conversations. But it’s done with. I reached out to teams with the same offer as Golden State, just to see.”
Cousins agreed to a one-year, $5.3 million deal July 2. He was anticipated to sign a maximum deal before the injury that few players have ever come back from to reach their former success.
He said he understands why people would read “on the surface” that the Warriors picked up yet another All-Star and be angry by it.
“But they don’t know the circumstances. I have thick skin,” he said. “I’m unbothered. I’m worried about my health. I’m worried about my long-term career. I’m worried about happiness.”
Cousins is in position to reach the playoffs for the first time in his career. It’ll set him up nicely for another round in free agency this summer.
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