With center Brook Lopez opting to get back surgery after appearing in just one game this season, the Milwaukee Bucks took a flyer on DeMarcus Cousins to shore up their depth.
The signing was a low-risk, high-reward decision for the defending champions, bringing aboard a four-time All-Star that still many believed still had something left to give. Injuries have been a big hindrance on Cousins over the past several seasons, hence why he was available. However, with a huge hole at the center position, the Bucks were fortunate enough to add a household name to try and fill the void. To this point, he has done a solid job of that for Milwaukee.
Throughout 12 games this season, Cousins is averaging 8.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 16.9 minutes per contest. Though all of those are career lows, the Bucks understood when they signed Cousins that they would not be getting the four-time All-Star version. Still, he has provided a welcoming boost for this team in the frontcourt, which is exactly what they envisioned when the front office brought him in. After a somewhat slow start, Cousins has seemingly found a groove as of late, playing some fantastic basketball for the undermanned Bucks.
DeMarcus Cousins has been excellent over the Milwaukee Bucks’ last four games
With Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and Sandro Mamukelashvili all missing time recently, Cousins has been the next man up. He has started in his last five games, seeing a more prominent opportunity than he was accustomed to early on. Cousins’ first start was rather uneventful, but in the four that have followed, he has been outstanding. In this four-game span, he is averaging 15.3 points, nine rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 25 minutes per contest.
Cousins kicked things off by notching his first and only double-double of the season in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, having tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds while also snatching five steals. He followed that up with a great outing against the Houston Rockets, his former team, where he scored 18 points and hauled down eight rebounds en route to a big win. The Bucks were severely undersized in that game, and Cousins did a fantastic job of holding his own as Milwaukee bounced back.
The big man’s best game of the season thus far came the very next night as he scored 22 points while pulling in eight rebounds and dishing out four assists against the Dallas Mavericks. His effort helped the Bucks secure a close win in Dallas. The next game was a Christmas matchup versus the Boston Celtics, where the Bucks got some reinforcements in Antetokounmpo and Portis, lessening the playing time for Cousins. The veteran still scored nine points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes in the victory, the first time he played under 20 in this stretch.
The biggest knock on Cousins in this run has been his 3-point shooting. He went just 4-of-16 from behind the arc over these four games as he is still looking for a groove from the outside. Still, given everything else he put on display, Cousins played great. The best part about this? The Bucks went 3-1 over these past four games, and Cousins was a massive reason why. Cousins’ opportunity will decrease moving forward with some of Milwaukee’s regulars returning to the rotation, but what he did in this run should not go unnoticed. Hopefully the center can build off this impressive run.
If he keeps playing like this, the Milwaukee Bucks will certainly have to guarantee his contract.