Los Angeles Lakers: DeMarcus Cousins should ask to be the 6th man

Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins should ask to be the 6th man because it increases the likelihood of him getting more post-up opportunities which will give him the best shot to re-establish his value

There has been some discussion around the league about how the Los Angeles Lakers are going to use their newly-acquired center, DeMarcus Cousins. Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen And Roll wrote an article last month discussing the pros and cons of Cousins being the starting center:

"Cousins as the starting center would re-unite him and Anthony Davis, and team them with LeBron James to create one of the most bruising front courts the league has ever seen offensively, an exhausting combination to defend around the rim that would rack up fouls and offensive rebounds like candy."

However, one can argue that it would behoove Cousins to ask the Lakers if he can come off the bench as a 6th man because the role would give him the best opportunity to re-establish his value on the open market. Cousins has been on a mission to prove that he can regain his old form after he ruptured his left Achilles tendon against the Houston Rockets on January 26, 2018.

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This is because he felt slighted at the lack of free-agent offers from teams during the 2018 offseason. Cousins told Marc Spears of ESPN that he was offended by the lack of free-agent offers.

The lack of offers drove him to call Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers on the second day of free agency to see if the organization had interest in signing him for the mid-level exception of $5.3 million. After Golden State reciprocated his interest and signed him to the mid-level exception, Cousins told Marc Spears that signing with the Warriors was his ace in the hole.

"This was my ace of spades. This was my chess move."

Unfortunately, the move didn’t go according to plan as the team failed to win it’s a third straight championship and he saw a significant dip in his statistics averaging 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. This is a decrease of 10.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists from what he averaged the previous three seasons.

One of the catalysts behind the production dip was a decrease in his post-up possessions per game. In the three seasons before joining Golden State, he averaged 5.21 post-ups per game. Furthermore, he averaged 0.93 points per post up during this span. The combination of these two factors led him to generate 4.916 points off of post-ups over those three seasons.

The 4.916 points accounted for 18.5 percent of his total offense as he averaged 26.5 points per game in that span. Cousins saw a 65.29 percent decrease in his post-ups as a member of the Warriors because he averaged 3.4 per game.

He would go on to score 0.94 points on every post up. The combination of these two factors led him to generate 3.2 points off of post-ups as a member of the Warriors. The decrease in post-ups is directly linked to spending more time off the ball and a significant reduction in his minutes. The Warriors would often use Cousins as a screener in their offense as he averaged 2.8 screen assists per game.

According to NBA.com, screen assists is “the number of times an offensive player or team sets a screen for a teammate that directly leads to a made field goal by that teammate”. The 2.8 screen assists generated 6.8 points per game for the Warriors offense last season.

This is a 50 percent increase from the previous three seasons as he averaged 1.4 screen assists per game. The 1.4 screen assists generated 3.2 points per game during that span for the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings.

Having a greater off the ball role wasn’t the only reason behind Cousins’ production dip as he saw a significant reduction in his minutes averaging 25.7 per game. This is a decrease of 9.2 minutes per game from the previous three seasons where he averaged 34.9 a game.

The minutes’ reduction was directly tied to not being in-game shape due to tearing his Achilles during the prior season. The Warriors held Cousins to 23.4 minutes per game in his first 11 appearances for the club because he wasn’t in the proper cardiovascular shape to play extended minutes right off the ball.

In fact, before the All-star break head coach Steve Kerr stated that Cousins had been showing signs of fatigue over the team’s past few games:

"I thought the last few games he just looked a little tired, which is to be expected. We were a good month into his recovery or into his return I should say. And the first few weeks he shot the ball a lot better than he did the last few games, so I thought he maybe looked a little fatigued. So I’m hoping the break helps him out and he’s able to come back and start shooting the ball a little bit better. I’m sure he will; that’s what his track record suggests. And then for the whole team we got 25 games left, so find a rhythm for himself individually, but continue to work on his rhythm with his teammates."

Therefore, all of these factors played a vital role in the decrease of production for DeMarcus Cousins last season. The decline in production had a significant effect on his free-agent market this summer as he agreed to a one year deal with the Lakers for $3.5 million.

Unfortunately, signing with the Lakers doesn’t necessarily give Cousins the best opportunity to regain his old form as LeBron James has gained a reputation around the league of being a ball-dominant player. Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer acknowledged LeBron’s tendency to dominate the basketball during one of his articles last October.

One example of what O’Connor means is when LeBron dribbles the ball to the 3-point line and analyzes the entire defense. If one of the defenders is sagging off a shooter, he will pass the basketball to the shooter for an open 3-pointer.

On the other hand, if everyone stays home, he will study everything about his defender to determine the next course of action. If the defender decided to sag off of him, LeBron would take the open jumper. But, if the defender played him tight, he will attempt to drive towards the basket for a score, to draw a foul or attract a double team.

LeBron’s ball-dominant style has been the primary catalyst behind him averaging 82.68 touches per game over the past six NBA seasons. The vast amount of touches forces his teammates to spend a significant amount of time off the ball in the role of a bystander or 3-point shooter.

For example, Kevin Love saw a significant increase in his 3-point field goal attempts when he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the 2014-15 season. Before Cleveland, Love took 23.6 percent of his field-goal attempts from behind the arc. He saw a 20.4 percent increase in his 3-point field goal attempts over four seasons with LeBron James.

Kevin Love wasn’t the only player who had to change his game to play with LeBron as Chris Bosh underwent a similar transformation. Before signing with the Miami Heat, Bosh took 2.3 percent of his field-goal attempts from behind the arc. He saw a 7.2 percent increase in his 3-point field goal attempts over four seasons with LeBron James.

As a consequence, one would assume that Cousins will be subjected to a similar role if he were to start for the team. Unfortunately, shooting is a significant weakness for DeMarcus as he has taken 24.1 percent of his field-goal attempts from behind the arc over the past 4 seasons.

He has only managed to convert 34.4 percent of those shots during this span. Therefore, defenders will sag off of him to encourage Cousins to take the inefficient shot attempt.

Consequently, he would be better off entering the game when LeBron James rest as it gets him a better opportunity to more post-up possessions. More post up opportunities increase the chances of DeMarcus Cousins regaining his old form and re-establishing his market value.