Nuggets plan to keep DeMarcus Cousins for rest of season?

The Denver Nuggets plan to sign four-time All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to a rest-of-season contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Cousins, 31, signed with the Nuggets on a 10-day contract in January and later signed two more 10-day contracts with Denver. Typically, a player is allowed to sign only two 10-day contracts with any given team, but the NBA extended that limit to three via a "hardship" exception.

In eight appearances with Denver, Cousins has averaged 13.1 minutes with 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. The Nuggets are sixth in the Western Conference with a 33-25 record, but have been without 6-10 forward Michael Porter Jr. since November due to a back injury that required surgery.

Cousins earned four straight All-Star nods between 2015 and 2018 during his time with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans. In 2019 after a stint with the Golden State Warriors, Cousins signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, but tore his ACL in the offseason and never played a game with Los Angeles.

Since then, Cousins has struggled to stick on an NBA roster and has played 66 total games over two seasons with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Nuggets.