After completing the sign-and-trade for Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat should take a flier on DeMarcus Cousins
It’s quite amazing that the Miami Heat managed to pull off the sign-and-trade for Jimmy Butler, considering that the team entered free agency with negative cap space. Nevertheless, the team’s great capologist, Andy Elisburg, managed to work the numbers and complete the legal trade with four teams.
Now, though, if the Heat honesty wants to be real players in the Eastern Conference this season, they’re going to need to add another potential difference-maker. And while the pipe dream of the Heat acquiring Bradley Beal via trade this summer is great, it’s simply not a likely scenario.
If Miami is going to add a second “star” it will have to be in a creative matter, or perhaps taking a flier on a big-name free agent that can’t seem to find a market.
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Which leads us to the perfect candidate in DeMarcus Cousins. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Cousins simply doesn’t have much of a free agent market at the moment. In fact, Woj doesn’t believe that he will even get the $5.4 million offer that he received the last offseason from the Golden State Warriors.
If that is indeed the case, he’s the perfect “star” player that the Heat should take a flier on. In fact, you can almost say that the stars are lining up for this marriage, between Cousins and the Heat. Miami has a history of reclamation projects.
Recently, Miami has rebuilt the reputations of Dion Waiters, James Johnson, and Hassan Whiteside. Even though each of those players may be viewed as overpaid, the bottom line is that the Heat helped them get to the point of getting offered big contracts.
Perhaps DeMarcus Cousins could be the next player to fall into that category? And, if so, the ceiling for Cousins making a big step forward is so much higher than any of the other reclamation projects that the Heat have had thus far.
Last season, Cousins wasn’t terrible. While he did have some rough spots in the playoffs for the Warriors on the defensive end, he was solid and big at times averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game.
While there could be some added risk – mostly, due to the rap that Cousins gets for being a “distraction” – signing a player like Cousins (if he would even be in the Heat’s price range) would be a low risk, high reward move. After adding Jimmy Butler, that’s exactly the type of move that could lift this team’s ceiling a bit more.
If no one wants to sign DeMarcus Cousins, it should come as a no-brainer for a team like the Miami Heat. They have the culture for it, and the leadership in the locker room and the front office to make a move like this work.