Last season, the Bucks relied on the core main players such as "Alphabet Brother + Middleton + Holliday + Lopez" to defeat the Heat, Nets, Eagles and Suns in the playoffs and successfully won the first championship trophy in team history.
After the start of the new season, the Bucks, which aim to complete the defending title, "inevitably" encountered a wave of injuries. Holliday, Middleton and Alphabet have all missed games due to injuries, and the most troubled of them is none other than the Bucks' main center, Brook Lopez.
At the start of the new season, due to a worsening back injury, Lopez eventually played only in the opener Bucks vs Nets, after which he missed the game indefinitely due to back surgery. After the Bucks lacked the main center, coupled with the different degrees of injury impact of the team's core, as the defending champions, they did not play a brilliant record in the new season.
In November 2021, due to the team's main center Lopez could not return in a short period of time, seeing that the team's internal line was in a state of no availability, the Bucks management signed Cousins, who was once known as the "first center in active service", with a one-year 2 million unsecured contract.
In fact, after rejecting the Pelicans' contract that year, Cousins spent several seasons in the NBA and still could not find a suitable position. Therefore, for the recruitment of bucks management, he seems to cherish this hard-won opportunity. After all, as he grows older, if he can no longer show his value in the NBA, he may really be not far from retirement...
Bucks career: After adjustments, Cousins is getting better and better personally
In his first game with the Bucks, Cousins came off the bench for 14.6 minutes, shooting 3-of-5 from the field and scoring 7 points, 4 boards, 1 assist and 1 break. Although Cousins played well on his debut in the new season, he actually failed to regain his form, and did not score in three consecutive games against the Heat, Rockets and Knicks.
It was also from that time that many people believed that Cousins' strength was not enough to keep up with the strength of the NBA and it was difficult to contribute on the court. Unexpectedly, after a period of downturn, Cousins was getting better and better.
On December 19, when playing against the Cavaliers, he scored 12 points and 12 boards; on December 23, he scored 18 points, 8 boards and 2 assists; on December 24, when he played against the Lone Rangers, he shot down 22 points, 8 boards and 4 assists...
And just after Cousins scored in double figures in three consecutive games, he seemed to have found the right position - no ball, no tactics, then put down his body, honestly do a good job of blocking and defending. So in the last nine games, Cousins has averaged 12.6 points and 7.1 boards per game. And in the recent game against the Raptors, Cousins shot 5 of 8, 3 of 3 from three points and 2 of 3, and also got a beautiful stat of 15 points and 10 boards.
Watching Cousins from the beginning of the franchise, to personal condition and play better and better, I thought that his stay with the Bucks in the new season has been stable. Who ever wanted to play better and better, the Bucks management still chose to lay him off.
Recently, Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in an interview: "Without Cousins, we would not have been able to get through this difficult season, he is great for us, I hope we can also help him." ”
And this passage of the Bucks management has also been interpreted by the outside world as they are crossing the river to demolish the bridge, unloading and killing donkeys. After all, cousins did help them through the hardest days when the team did not have a good record at the beginning of the season; but when the team's record rebounded, when Cousins was not needed, the Bucks management did not hesitate to kick him away...
So, knowing that Cousins is getting better and better, why do the Bucks still want to cut him?
1. Avoid luxury tax + vacate places. Although Cousins and the Bucks signed only an unsecured contract for 2 million a year, if the Bucks want to keep him, the contract will be converted to a guarantee contract on January 7. And that means the Bucks need to add $4 million in luxury taxes for Cousins to stay.
An increase of $4 million in luxury taxes may not be a big problem for the Warriors, Lakers, and Knicks, but for the Bucks, a small-ball city team, $4 million is still a province.
In addition, not "regularizing" Cousins can also make the Bucks' team space more flexible, giving them the opportunity to make some targeted reinforcements according to the needs of the team in the middle of the season. And the current effect of the alphabet brother playing the fifth position is not bad, and the Bucks are less in urgent need of Cousins' assistance than the beginning of the season.
2. After a major injury, the speed declines, and Cousins' defensive ability is insufficient. Since Cousins broke his Achilles tendon during the Pelican period, whether he is in the Warriors, rockets, Clippers and other teams, he has been unable to play NBA-level strength due to constant injuries. This is also the main reason why he has been to many teams and has never been able to find a "stable job".
And under the erosion of these injuries, Cousins' already slow pace has become slower, and there has been a lot of decline in bouncing.
And because of the existence of the alphabet brother, the most good tactic of the bucks - rapid attack and defense conversion; after all, only through rapid attack and defense conversion can the ability of the alphabet brother be maximized, so that he can catch them off guard with the super athletic ability of the alphabet brother before the enemy's defensive formation has not yet taken shape.
But Cousins' slow pace now greatly affected the Bucks' original tactics, causing the Bucks to be forced to slow down. And even in trench warfare, Cousins couldn't provide the same high-quality cover and frame as López...
3. Frequently affected by injuries, the Bucks have always had difficulty fully trusting him. When Cousins injured the Pelican achilles tendon, he was cut for multiple injuries over the years, and now in the Bucks, although he has played a good offensive performance, his injury history still makes people dare not believe him too much.
After all, once Cousins is included in the team's main lineup, if he is injured without warning in the playoffs or key games, or if his condition declines further after injury, then the Bucks will be in trouble. And judging from Cousins' injury history in recent years, this possibility is not low.
In summary, it is precisely because of the "avoidance of luxury tax + vacated places, lack of defensive ability, frequent injury history" and other reasons, coupled with the fact that Lopez is very likely to return before the playoffs, so the Bucks management has given up Cousins, who is getting better and better. After all, judging from Cousins' defensive ability + glass attributes now, he may have a certain role in the Bucks, but it is difficult to become a boost for them to compete for the title...