When the Warriors inked a one-year, $5.3 million deal for DeMarcus Cousins, the NBA world went into massive shock. Who could blame us? Teams that are as good as the Warriors aren’t supposed to sign max-level talents for $5.3 million. Especially not after sweeping the NBA Finals in route to a second consecutive championship.
According to reports, Cousins, while rehabbing a ruptured achilles, rejected a two-year, $40 million contract offer from the Pelicans towards the end of the season. Then, the Pelicans pounced on Julius Randle‘s availability and let “Boogie” hit the market this offseason. Cousins had little interest in the deals being offered to him, so he picked up the phone and called Bob Myers to express interest in taking the mid-level exception to play for Golden State.