OKC Thunder: DeMarcus Cousins situation shows avoiding injury is crucial
The DeMarcus Cousins injury should teach every NBA team a lesson. The OKC Thunder are no different as they need every part of their big three.
The news sent shockwaves around the NBA world: DeMarcus Cousins is out with an Achilles injury for the rest of the season. The injury might impact him for the rest of his career. The Oklahoma City Thunder have players that are the caliber of Cousins and they need every one of them. For the OKC Thunder, they’re a team that is in a somewhat similar place.
The Pelicans, who were trending up, are now going to have a tough fight trying to make the playoffs since the next 32 games they play will have 17 teams trying to contend for a playoff spot.
OKC is playing hot just like this right now and the Pelicans are right behind them in the standings. While the injury of Cousins is beneficial to the Thunder, it can happen to them.
Let’s take it back to the beginning of the season real quick.
The Thunder knew Russell Westbrook needed help and if the Thunder were going to be a legitimate contender they needed more of an offensive output from other players.
In came Carmelo Anthony and Paul George via trade and the Thunder changed the complexion of the team.
After Anthony Davis signed a record five-year, $145 million deal in the summer of 2015, the Pelicans knew they needed somebody to pair with him. They went and got DeMarcus Cousins at the All Star break last year.
The Thunder and Pelicans had star-studded teams going into the year and expectations were high to make the playoffs and do damage this year.
Just like Paul George, Cousins is going to be a free agent this season as George is exercising his player option. The Pelicans wanted to see if a playoff run could entice Cousins to stay longer but now with him out that plan is in jeopardy.
George is most likely contemplating staying with the Thunder or going out west to the Los Angeles Lakers. An injury like that cannot happen to George if you are the Thunder.
The OK3 of Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Paul George are a big part of the team’s offense.
In this six-game winning streak that the Thunder are currently on, all three players have scored in double-digits except one game against the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 13, where Anthony scored only seven points.
That game started the winning streak.
The only other player averaging double-digits in points for the season on OKC is Steven Adams, who is averaging 13.7 per game.
The Pelicans are a team that is similar to the Thunder. They had four players in the starting lineup that are averaging double-digits in scoring before Cousins went out: Anthony Davis (26.5 points per game), DeMarcus Cousins (25.2), Jrue Holiday (18.7) and E’Twaun Moore (12.8).
They had two 20-points per game scorers in Davis and Cousins. The Thunder have George (20.5) and Westbrook (25.4) as their 20-point scorers.
Just like the Thunder, the Pelicans were surging up the Western Conference playoff ranks.
Westbrook just dropped his season-high 46 points against the Washington Wizards on Thursday. If the Thunder lost Westbrook that would be catastrophic. Westbrook is having almost identical numbers to his MVP season last year.
What if the Thunder lost Paul George? George is on the fence about staying in OKC or not, and having a season-ending injury that would derail OKC’s season would possibly send him packing to another team unless the Thunder were still winning without him.
Another fact to point out is that George said that Westbrook is helping make his decision thanks to his character. What if Westbrook went down? Would Westbrook’s presence being gone on the court for the season affect George’s decision? Would George still want to stay beyond this season?
Anthony is one of the most purest scorers in the league. Even though he hasn’t been able score this year like he has consistently in the past losing him would be a big blow because he is still the guy you want to go to when you need a basket.
The Thunder have been fine when it comes to their star players playing. Anthony has played 47 games, George has played 45 and Westbrook has played all 48 possible games this season.
Resting one of the OK3 at certain times during the season should not be out of the question. The Thunder are in position to do this more than ever now since they have seemed to figure out how to play together.
There is no way to avoid injury. That is the scary part. The Thunder should just be more careful now that they have seen a team’s season basically end because of player going down.
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The DeMarcus Cousins injury shows just how important superstars are in the league. One of your star players go down and that could be it for your season. The Thunder now see they cannot take players health for granted.