Center DeMarcus Cousins hasn’t yet made his debut with the Golden State Warriors this season as he recovers from his torn Achilles, but his return appears to be coming soon.
The team is targeting the upcoming road game against Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 18 for Cousins to return to the court, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Head coach Steve Kerr initially said Tuesday that the center will make his debut within the next 20 games, per Marc J. Spears of ESPN.
“It’s closer now,” the coach said of Cousins’ return. “The conditioning has got over a barrier.”
The four-time All-Star has been out since last January after suffering the Achilles injury as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans. He signed a one-year deal with Golden State in the offseason but has taken his rehab slowly as he tries to get to 100 percent.
Cousins was first sent down to practice with the G League affiliate in Santa Cruz but is now getting more work in with the NBA team.
He went through a full practice last week, per Nick Friedell of ESPN, although he still needed to get his conditioning up.
It appears he is now close to finally getting into games and helping the Warriors.
This is scary news for the rest of the league considering the type of production the center can provide to an already elite team. With him bringing balance inside to an elite perimeter team, Golden State might be impossible to stop in the second half of the season.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
