10 NBA players sure to regress in 2018-19

1. DeMarcus Cousins, Golden State Warriors

I mean, duh. Even if DeMarcus Cousins is still the same player following a troublesome Achilles injury at age 27 (and 270 pounds), playing with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green will at least hinder him from posting the gargantuan numbers he boasted last year.

With the New Orleans Pelicans, Boogie averaged a massive 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game. He won’t be putting up video game numbers like that with the Golden State Warriors, even if he returns fully healthy, stays healthy, perfectly meshes with his superstar teammates and doesn’t look any different than he did before the injury.

However, even in terms of impact, there’s no set timetable on Cousins’ return, and there’s a good chance he isn’t back until the end of 2018. When he returns, there will be an adjustment process, both in terms of playing NBA basketball again and learning how to mesh with such a loaded starting five.

Cousins could vault this all-time team even further into unprecedented territory, but it’s more likely his impact is minimal given the time he’ll miss, the historically worrisome injury he’s trying to come back from and the fact that he just needs to just play his role on a championship favorite to revitalize his market value.