Three reasons why the Washington Wizards and free agent Demarcus Cousins are a good fit

Despite not having a roster with a bevy of superstars, the Wizards, unfortunately, hardly have any cap space and they have used up all of their exceptions. However, with the team having a surplus of wingmen, it would make sense for them to move players Rui Hachimura and/or Deni Avdija to free up the cap space to sign the former Sacramento Kings star. They should do that for these three reasons.

Starting Kristaps Porzingis at the center is a dangerous proposition

If you have followed Kristaps Porzingis’ career you know staying healthy has been a constant problem for the 7-foot-3 talent from Latvia. Obviously, small ball in the NBA has become normal ball but expecting Porzingis not to avoid more injuries playing at the one position in the league that still demands a great deal of physicality is a disaster waiting to happen.

Signing someone like Cousins would offer a far better fill-in option than Daniel Gifford and Taj Gibson, as well as force “KP” to play far fewer minutes at a position for.

Wizards need more veteran voices

Outside of Taj Gibson, Will Barton is the only player that is likely to be a part of the rotation that is over 30 years old. Sure, Bradley Beal is a guy that has been around the block, but overall this is not a well-tenured group. That certainly has pros, but there are benefits of having well-established veterans on a roster.

Cousins is only 32 and there is good reason to believe he does still have a lot left as he’s suggested. While uber-veteran Gibson is 37 and could be out of the league at any moment. Cousins would not only bring a veteran voice, but he is a greybeard who could still legitimately be a contributor to a competitive environment for a young group.

Washington is in need of more scoring

Outside of Beal, the Wizards don’t have many reliable scorers. Porzingis has 20 points per game potential, but he is bound to miss a bunch of games at some point, due to injury. After that, Will Barton and Monte Morris are strong second and third-level scorers on the roster--meaning the Wizards can use all the additional proven scoring they can get.

Cousins’ recent numbers are nothing spectacular. In 2021-2022, he averaged nine points and just under six rebounds over 15 minutes during stints in Milwaukee and Denver. However, if you extrapolate that over 20-25 minutes, Cousins being a double-double talent is feasible. And that is the type of player the team lacks currently.