Golden State Warriors: 3 reasons DeMarcus Cousins hysteria is overblown

3. Warriors adding Cousins is the league’s self-fulfilling prophecy

The Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuild is generally credited as the trend starter, but make no mistake: Teams are tanking at an all-time rate because of the Warriors.

There are also bigger issues at play, such as our increased understanding of the value of cost-controlled assets, the insignificance of simply being “good” in today’s hyperbolic world, the relative ease of selling fans on the future compared to the expectations of the now, etc.

Ultimately, the main reason the league is racing to the bottom is more practical: No one thinks they can beat the Warriors.

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If the league were more wide-open, the risk/reward calculation for signing Cousins would feel different for other teams. “If he’s a bust he’s a bust, but if he returns to his former levels then we have a guy who could put us over the top,” the thinking would go. Because the Warriors are so far ahead of the field, however, the thinking is more defeatist. “Even if he’s great, we can’t compete with Golden State, and if he isn’t, he clogs up our cap sheet and counteracts our rebuild.”

Whether this is astute or narrow thinking is open for debate. On one had, it is true that the Warriors are just about as loaded as the 60s Celtics, the 80s Lakers and the 90s Bulls. On the other, they were down at halftime to the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of last year’s Western Conference Finals. As one of the only teams in the league actually going all out to beat Golden State, Houston was very nearly successful.

Cleveland reportedly backed out of a Paul George trade last summer because it was unsure if he or James would stay for more than one season. A year later, Boston is seemingly hesitant to trade Jaylen Brown for Kawhi Leonard. Just about every team has its eyes on the future, allowing Golden State’s rule to become as tyrannical as the league has long perceived it as.