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Los Angeles Lakers: DeMarcus Cousins’ injury adds to bad center luck

By Jason Reed

TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 30: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors warms up before Game One of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on May 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 30: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the Golden State Warriors warms up before Game One of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on May 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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If you are a frequent reader of LA Sports Hub then you know that the Los Angeles Lakers have had some pretty bad luck with big men over the last several years.

The Los Angeles Lakers will not get the promising trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins in 2019. In case you missed it, Cousins suffered a torn ACL while working out in Las Vegas on Monday.

There is no official timetable for his return, but with his injury past and the added struggle of being a seven-footer, chances are we won’t see Cousins don the purple and gold. If he does, it would have to be at the deepest stages of the playoffs or in a different season, if the Lakers offered him a contract.

The worst part of this injury is not the impact it has on the Lakers, but for Cousins. Cousins was due for a massive payday prior to rupturing his Achilles in January 2018 and has had to settle for two one-year deals for a combined $7.5 million. After this injury, it isn’t unlikely that Cousins won’t ever get that big payday.

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While the last thing we want to do is downplay the effect this will have on Cousins, it also fits into the trend that has surrounded the Los Angeles Lakers and big men over the last few years. Cousins is the first to suffer a torn ACL, but he adds to the Lakers’ bad luck at the position.

We actually posted an article about the team’s bad luck at the center position a few weeks ago not expecting Cousins to get injured. To quickly recap how the team has been unlucky with centers:

  • They let Brook Lopez walk for a one-year, $5 million deal in 2018; he sets the three-point record for a center.
  • They don’t match for Julius Randle, despite it being just a one-year deal with a player option (they still would have had enough salary cap for Anthony Davis).
  • They waive Thomas Bryant, who was All-G League First-Team. Bryant averages 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in just 20.8 minutes per game with the Wizards. He is still 22 years old.
  • They trade Ivica Zubac for a “three-point specialist” big man in Mike Muscala, who averaged 5.9 points with the Lakers.
  • They sign Timofey Mozgov to one of the worst contracts in recent NBA memory (four-year, $64 million), which forces the team to trade D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets.

And now they have this brutal ACL injury. To be fair, this is the first one that is not the team’s fault, but you can’t help but think about all of the missed chances by the Lakers.

Right now the team has a roster that has just one center in JaVale McGee and whoever else they bring in won’t be very impactful. If they would have just got one of these past mistakes right they could have had Julius Randle for this season, or Thomas Bryant, or maybe even Brook Lopez.

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But hey, everything happens and you can’t expect every team to be perfect when you’re using hindsight. However, you can hope that the Los Angeles Lakers don’t mess it up some more in the future as they try and win championship number 17.

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