Boston Celtics: 3 players C’s should consider on one year deals this offseason

DeMarcus Cousins, C

This isn’t the first time we’ve thrown the idea of a DeMarcus Cousina/ Boston Celtics merger and, truth be told, it likely will not be our last until the events of the offseason come to an end.

For a majority of the season — and the preseason — we’ve covered the idea that the C’s seriously need to bolster their front court and, specifically their center rotation if they truly wish to compete with the other threats that persist in the Eastern Conference.

With the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Vučević and Al Horford roaming around in the playoff picture, they’re bound to sweat down low if and when the 2019-20 season resumes. And, while starter Daniel Theis has proven to be serviceable throughout the year, him being the team’s best option at the five won’t likely cut it against these other top-tier talents.

Enter DeMarcus Cousins.

Most recently brought into the mainstream by Jason Reed of Lake Show Life, the idea of Boogie to Boston appears to be more polarizing of a thought than we had originally believed.

"“With little cap space, the Celtics should be jumping all over signing Cousins to a mid-level exception contract for a season with the potential of him being a true difference-maker. Barring any setbacks, he should be fully healthy for the start of the 2020-2021 NBA season and the potential of him as the team’s stretch five is intriguing, to say the least. If Cousins returned to 80 percent of what he was during his All-NBA seasons then it would undoubtedly give the Celtics the deepest roster in the Eastern Conference and the most dynamic.”"

The past few years have been hard on the once menacing force in Cousins. By the mid-way point of his career best 2017-18 campaign with the New Orleans Pelicans, where he was stuffing the stat-sheet with averages of 25.2 points, 12.9 points, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals & blocks on 47 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from deep, the All-Star center suffered an unfortunate Achilles tear and, thus, missed the remainder of his contract season.

Struggling to find a taker that offseason, Cousins wound up accepting a midlevel exception deal with the Golden State Warriors. He played 30 games for the team in the regular season and eight games for them in the postseason, all while showing flashes of what he was prior to injury (averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 48 percent shooting from the field).

Still showing injury-prone tendencies, the 29-year-old signed another “prove it” deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, the big never managed to suit up for the team, for he ended up tearing his ACL during a workout just months before the 2019-20 season.

Once the 2020-21 season starts, the center will be 30-years-old will likely be finding himself fighting for his career.

As mentioned in our previous publications on the center, the Boston Celtics should certainly consider helping the 4x All-Star keep his NBA dream alive for three specific reasons:

1. As we all know, they need to bolster their center rotation
2. They’ll be strapped for cash this summer and DeMarcus Cousins could be had at a minimum deal
3. When healthy, he’s arguably the best center in the league

We believe the idea of inking Cousins this offseason is somewhat of a risk/ reward situation where the potential rewards far outweigh the risks.

With career averages of 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 33 percent shooting from deep, the veteran has proven capable of simply doing it all on the court.

Even at just 80 percent of what he was, he should still prove to be the best option at the five Boston has seen in quite some time.