Los Angeles Lakers: DeMarcus Cousins’ tears ACL; expectations change?

What impact will the torn ACL injury to DeMarcus Cousins have on the Los Angeles Lakers this season? We explore if expectations should be tempered now

After the reshuffling that took place this summer, the Los Angeles Lakers – after adding Anthony Davis, Danny Green and DeMarcus Cousins – had to be considered one of the few legit contenders to emerge from the Western Conference.

At the same time, this would present, perhaps, the best opportunity for DeMarcus Cousins to get his injury-derailed career back on track. However, afterword that Cousins suffered a knee injury during a workout this week, both of those were in jeopardy.

Now that it’s been reported, by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, that Cousins likely suffered a torn ACL, you can’t help but wonder where the injury not only leaves Cousins but also the Lakers as a team.

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First, let’s dig into what this means for Cousins. Simply put, this has to absolutely gut him not only as a human but also as a professional. Just a few years ago, when he was fully healthy, Cousins was putting up career numbers. He was also considered, arguably, the best center in the game – with his ability to score down low, take his opponent outside and run the floor like an effective big.

While there were questions about his defense, his ability on offense more than made up for that fact. During the last healthy stretch of his career (48 games with the Pelicans), Cousins averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists on 47 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range.

To put those numbers in perspective, Anthony Davis averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on 52 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. Yea, Cousins was on a level of AD, when healthy.

Just over the last two-plus years, Cousins has suffered an Achilles, quad and (now) ACL (knee) injury – which are all pretty serious injuries. To say that he’s been unfortunate would be an understatement. It feels like ever since he was traded from Sacramento, he’s been snake bitten.

This year was supposed to be the start of something new. Instead, Cousins will likely be rehabbing for much, if not all, the 2019-20 season.

As far as the Lakers, this injury certainly hurts too. Perhaps not as much as it might impact and change things for Cousins personally, but after missing out on Kawhi Leonard, apart from Danny Green, Cousins was the headline signing in free agency for the franchise this summer.

If nothing else, he was supposed to be the low-risk, high reward signing for the Lakers heading into the season. Short of making a quick recovery and then absolutely rocking out in the latter portion of the season, heading into the playoffs, Cousins isn’t going to have that type of impact for the Lakers this season.

Instead of having that wildcard x-factor on their roster, the Lakers will have to rely on the ability – and health – of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in order to emerge as a success in 2019-20. Considering that Davis doesn’t have the cleanest of history in terms of health and that LeBron is coming off the most serious injury of his career thus far, that isn’t a sure thing to lean on.

Something that should also be mentioned is that this might be the best, last possible year for LeBron to add another championship to his collection. With an injured Golden State Warriors team, and Kevin Durant not playing this season, there was a great opportunity for LeBron to steal one last chip.

The injury to Cousins certainly hurts his chances. In the end, if both LeBron and AD have the seasons they’re capable of having, the Los Angeles Lakers will still be one of the favorites in the Western Conference. However, there’s no question that this latest injury to Cousins is, flatly put, a punch to the gut – and not just for Cousins, the Lakers and their fans.

Another major injury that DeMarcus Cousins must overcome is simply not fair.