GUAYNABO, PR — Breaking news came out of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), Puerto Rico’s professional basketball league, when the Guaynabo Mets announced they would be signing 32 year-old center Demarcus “Boogie” Cousins for the upcoming spring season. The major pickup comes after Cousins failed to attract any serious NBA interest this season, going unsigned all year long, and remaining so as the NBA Playoffs begin in the coming days.
Cousins’ career has quite literally been the definition of “up and down” — after being drafted by the Sacramento Kings as the fifth overall pick in 2010 coming out of the University of Kentucky, the Mobile, the Alabama product had a relatively slow start in his first three years of his career, never breaking the 20 point-per-game mark, and reaching 10 rebounds per game in one of three seasons.
However, stardom arrived for the big man when, beginning in his fourth season, he finally started showing his potential.
In the prime of his NBA career, roughly from 2014-2018, Cousins consistently averaged north of 24 points per game, and even averaged a double-double in his two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
The BEST of #DeMarcusCousins' three 40p/20r games from the 2017-18 season, the most 40p/20r games in a season since Moses Malone in 1981-82! #DoItBig pic.twitter.com/012TNbPt1p
— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2018
But, as happens to most players who suddenly see a significant drop in performance, Cousins was berated by injury after injury, including achilles, quad, and ACL tears in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
Since then, Boogie had played for five teams in the four seasons of NBA-action for which he was available. After a solid 2021-22 season during which he played solidly for the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets (averaged 9.0 points and 4.1 rebounds) but nonetheless did not see a single contract offer come the 2022 offseason.
Demarcus Cousins in 2022 with Denver Nuggets – Image Credit: Denver Nuggets/NBA
Now, Cousins’ move to Puerto Rico is likely one to show his remaining talent, even as his prime has left him, and to potentially garner NBA interest anew for the 2023-24 season.
As for the Mets, signing Cousins presents an amazing opportunity for them, not only to push to compete in the BSN, but also to popularize their own team behind their signees’ name. After being reinstated as a team in 2019, the Mets reached a championship game in 2021, but had a disappointing 2022, going just 14-18. With Cousins now on the roster, the expectations are sky-high from everyone, in Guaynabo and beyond.
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M. Amoroso
April 13, 2023 at 9:15 am
Excellent article. Complete, thorough, well-written.
Geoffrey Orlando
April 13, 2023 at 9:40 am
Your very interesting overview of the career so far of Demarcus Cousins. It is heartwarming to see that talented people like Demarcus can still provide great offense for the team and their fans who continued to believe in him and still believe in him being able to continue to star for them. Bravo Demarcus !.