DeMarcus Cousins‘ current 10-day contract with the Nuggets will expire this weekend, but head coach Michael Malone doesn’t sound like someone who expects to part ways the veteran center in a few days, Mike Singer of the Denver Post relays.
“You can see all the guys on our bench, even on the court and on the bench, how much they’re rooting for DeMarcus, which is really neat for me, just from a personal level, from a family atmosphere type of a thing,” Malone said on Monday. “Like here’s DeMarcus, four-time All-Star, out of the league. Shouldn’t be the case, and he’s here with us, he’s found a home.
“I love him, and I think you can see all the teammates, when he has a play like that, whether it’s blocking a shot, rolling and dunking, hitting a three, you can feel the energy.”
Cousins has signed three 10-day pacts with Denver so far, and the last two have been standard (non-hardship) deals, which means the team will have to decide whether to sign him for the rest of the season when his current contract expires. There has been no confirmation yet that the Nuggets plan to take that route, but it certainly seems like it’s trending that way.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- If a Feb. 24 MRI on Paul George‘s injured elbow comes back clean, the expectation is that the Clippers forward will begin a ramp-up period of approximately two weeks and could return to the court – barring setbacks – during the second week of March, Chris Haynes reported on Tuesday’s TNT broadcast (video link via Tomas Azarly of ClutchPoints).
- Warriors rookie Jonathan Kuminga has been named a replacement for Pacers guard Chris Duarte in this Friday’s Rising Stars Game, the league announced in a press release. Kuminga will replace Duarte, who is dealing with a left toe injury, on Team Payton for the event.
- Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee believes there are a handful of parallels between the Kings‘ pre-deadline acquisition of Domantas Sabonis and their trade for Chris Webber nearly 24 years ago.
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