Portland Trail Blazers should bring Boogie to Rip City
Structure
DeMarcus Cousins needs to be utilized in a more structured way because of the many injuries he sustained. Since the 2017-2018 season, Cousins has suffered some extensive injuries to his legs. In the before-mentioned season, he ruptured his Achilles tendon. In addition, in the 2019 season, Cousins joined the super team Gold State Warriors. It’s been Cousins’ only taste of playoff basketball, but it came at the expense of a ruptured left quad. In August of last year, Cousins tore his ACL.
On the other hand, these unfortunate series of injuries are a positive for the Blazers and Boogie. Kanter can still be the starter when Nurkic returns. Consequently, Nurkic will most likely be on a minute’s restriction as he gets back into game shape. As previously mentioned, Cousins is also on a minute’s restriction. The expectation is that Nurkic will eventually return to the starting lineup. Above all, there should be enough minutes for all three big men to get plenty of run and opportunity.
For example, by adding up the minutes played by Kanter, Giles, and Little (from the above chart), you get a total of 57:27. In other words, Kanter, Nurkic, and Cousins can each get about 20 minutes on the court. On the other hand, Stotts can lean a little heavier, in minutes, on Kanter as he’s the most durable of the bunch. But Stotts can also use a hot hand or game flow approach.
Zach-out
The signing of Cousins will almost certainly spell the end of Zach Collins‘ time with the Blazers. While Collins doesn’t currently have much value, he can be an interesting trade chip if Olshey feels like making a deal at the trade deadline.
At the end of the day, all Rip City fans care about and want is winning games and, ultimately, a championship. Moreover, getting a talent like Cousins without giving up anything of value or importance to the team is a dream scenario. Especially when you factor in the Blazers don’t have a first-round pick in the 2021 draft.
This is a championship-contending type of move that Olshey needs to make. It will let the team know he believes in their ability to win it all this year. Bringing Boogie to Portland will let the league know that the Blazers are pushing all their chips in on a title run. In conclusion, this is a no-brainer type of move that Olshey needs to make.
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