2019 NBA free agency: Predicting where the top free agents will land

DeMarcus Cousins: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks entered the summer with dreams of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and either Anthony Davis (via trade) or Zion Williamson (via draft lottery luck). Now, there’s a very real scenario they miss out on all of those scenarios, as well as Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker and the other prized free agents of the summer.

This stings in the wake of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, which created two max contract slots for one of the best free agency pools in recent memory. According to the New York Times‘ Marc Stein, the Knicks are already calculating fallback options to pass the time until another venture into free agency in 2020:

Limiting Mitchell Robinson‘s minutes with a injury-prone, one-year rental may seem like a mistake, but the Knicks also want to field a more competitive (or at least entertaining) team next season. With the top names seemingly inching further and further away from the Big Apple, guys like DeMarcus Cousins and Terry Rozier could become stopgap additions.

The New York Post described the Knicks’ interest in Boogie as “mild,” but that could accurately describe most of the league’s interest in him right now, especially after suffering a quad injury during his up-and-down comeback season.

Though Cousins averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in just 25.7 minutes per game with the Warriors, he was clearly a shell of his former self and another step slower on the defensive end. Golden State would probably like to bring him back given the team’s debilitating injuries, but can’t offer him the money New York can when its plans fall through.