Kerr: Cousins will start upon Warriors debut

With DeMarcus Cousins planning to make his long-awaited Golden State Warriors debut and return from a ruptured Achilles tendon Jan. 18, head coach Steve Kerr has a big decision to make: insert the 28-year-old center immediately into the starting lineup, or ease him back up to speed in a reserve role.

Turns out it was an easy decision.

"Yeah, I'll start him. After that, everything's on the table," Kerr said at Warriors shootaround Thursday, according to The Mercury News' Mark Medina. "We have to figure out what the rotations will look like, how many minutes he can play. We'll have to play around with the minutes, the combinations, the sets. We haven't had a player like him here before."

As for Cousins, he tried to downplay expectations for his first game back since January 2018.

"I'm not expecting to come out and score 50 points or anything like that - it would be great if I could, but that's not my expectation," the big man told reporters Thursday. "Just coming out and being part of the team ... that's good enough for me."

In parts of eight seasons split between the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, Cousins has averaged 21.5 points, 11 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. He is a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA second team selection.