Cousins: No teams presented offers in free agency, including Pelicans
DeMarcus Cousins was seemingly viewed as tainted goods for a litany of reasons when NBA free agency got underway, which left him "confused" and "hurt."
No teams elected to extend him any offers, including the New Orleans Pelicans, the team he was a member of for the last one-and-a-half seasons, Cousins told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears.
While at his residence in Las Vegas, the 27-year-old reached out to his agent to discuss his options, one of which was joining the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Cousins then contacted Warriors general manager Bob Myers, letting him know that he was interested in taking the taxpayer mid-level exception of $5.3 million.
"This is my ace of spades," said Cousins. "This is my chess move."
After chatting it up with Warriors players and former USA Basketball teammates of his in Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, as well as Stephen Curry, Cousins knew he was making the right decision.
"Every guy was excited," Cousins added.
Related - Report: Draymond led Warriors' recruitment of Cousins
New Orleans locked up Julius Randle to a two-year deal on Monday, therefore removing themselves from any equation involving a Cousins return. The franchise was interested at one point in bringing him back, but the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered back in January hindered their enthusiasm in doing so.
According to Cousins, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps even went as far as to say that "he didn't want me."
Related: Cousins still aiming to return for training camp
There were only a handful of teams across the Association that could even offer Cousins a significant deal in the first place, but according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, there were a number of teams that "didn't want him in their locker room, didn't want him in their organization."
There's no way of knowing at this time when Cousins will be back on the court, or whether he'll be able to get back to an All-Star level when he does. Regardless, this one-year experiment presents little risk for Golden State, as they're already in good shape without him, and will only become more formidable with him.
The rich get richer.