For Cousins himself, this decision was also carefully considered.
When I ruptured my Achilles tendon, I suffered a major injury in my career and fell into the most painful period.
The team's dialogue with him was. "Because of this injury, we feel that your value in the team has declined."
It can be said to be an unkind statement. At this time, what I want to think about is not caring about the team's main center, but trying to lower the price immediately.
This is also a major reason why Cousins rejected Pelicans's two-year offer of 40 million, and instead joined Warriors for 5.8 million in one year.
He felt that his prospects in Pelicans were slim, so he chose to leave voluntarily.
Of course, from Thunder's perspective, they may also want to thank Pelicans's management for this operation.
Otherwise they wouldn't be able to get Davis in exchange.
Tonight, Cousins also wore a suit and came to Oracle Arena to watch the game. Although he couldn't play, people still came.
The official broadcast footage is also very interesting and shows two people, Brow and Cousins.
The two main players of Pelicans last season have now joined the two strongest teams of Western Conference. You must know that Pelicans last season was still seventh in Western Conference. Even if Cousins is not injured, the ranking can be even higher.
Now they are parting ways, Rondo went to Lakers, Cousins left Warriors, Brow joined Thunder.
But even though the main players left one after another, this year's Pelicans has never been much worse.
The outside lines include Butler, Holiday, and Interior includes Sabonis, Randle. At first glance, they are not weak.
The game will start soon
Thunder Starting Lineup:
Westbrook
Jerami·Grant
Anthony·Davis
Javier McGee
Warriors Starting Lineup:
Durant
Compared with the new lineup of the defending champion Thunder, Warriors, which failed last year to Second Round, still uses the old lineup.
The only change is that Pachulia and McGee left the team one after another. With Cousins's return date undetermined, Looney was replaced by Starting Lineup.
Opening jump ball.
McGee easily beat Looney and won the ball in the first attack.
Chen Xi looked at Westbrook with some emotion as he took Basketball.
"It's not easy. How long has it been since Thunder got the first attack~~"
Although Little Sabonis is not bad in terms of Rebound Rim Protection, his jumping and wingspan are still lagging behind, which also causes him to always be unable to jump against many jumping male centers.
Thunder attacks first, Westbrook holds the ball to Frontcourt, then Dribble waits for Teammates to be in position, and then delivers the ball to Chen Xi.
Chen Xi caught the ball and faced Klay. He did not hit hard immediately, but waited for Pick-and-Roll to be lifted up by Davis.
I have to say that the cover quality of Brow is simply top-notch.
Chen Xi relied on the screen to easily score Midcourt Line, and then faced Green and hit the ball directly without hesitation.
Basketball Bounce pass then bounced up and fell neatly into the hands of Roll's Davis.
Davis caught the ball and took one step to the basket and easily succeeded in a one-handed dunk.
Too fast.
Looney had no time to return to defense.
2 to 0.
Davis successfully scored the first point in Thunder's career.
When he turned back to defend, he gave Chen Xi a light high-five.
The chemistry between the two is good.
Donovan stood on the sidelines and nodded slightly. Chen Xi's passing level and organizational level are still rising steadily, which makes the team's choices more diverse.
The existence of Davis adds a powerful Interior end point to the team.
Warriors attack.
After Curry holds the ball and dribbles it to Frontcourt, Top of the Key waits for Pick-and-Roll from Green, then breaks through quickly and enters Mid-range, attracting help and then passing the ball to Durant on the outside.
KD didn't pause at all after receiving the ball, and Transfer ball gave Corner Klay again.
Thompson raised the knife and dropped it, Three-Point Shot, Swished Through the Net.
3 to 2.
Warriors's offense is as sharp as ever.
The three Tsunami brothers, as long as Touch is online, their offense will always be at the top level of League.
Return to Offensive End.
Westbrook holds the ball from the outside, and Pick-and-Roll from Grant breaks through and goes directly to Paint, attracting Looney Help defense and then passing the ball in and out, giving it to McGee.
Then McGee's gorgeous buttery hand made the ball fly out of Baseline, making a mistake.
Chen Xi shook his head speechlessly, turned around and retreated.
McGee appears to be suffering from amnesia, a condition that causes a lack of concentration.
This also leads to the possibility that he will become distracted during the game, resulting in some outrageous mistakes.
This kind of buttery hand is considered a trivial matter.
This is why the dignified Olajuky, who has an exaggerated Physical Talent, can only earn a minimum salary of League.
Warriors attacks again, but Ku pursues Pick-and-Roll.
Curry played the ball, Green Top of the Key made a gesture like Hand-off, Klay ran past him, successfully attracting the defense.
Green took advantage of the trend and broke through with the ball and rushed directly into Paint.
This is supposed to be a fake fax that Green is very good at.
Relying on his exaggerated defensive attractiveness on the perimeter, he used a fake Hand-off to deceive the defender and then create opportunities at the basket.
However, the current Thunder is not the Thunder last year.
If you switch to Little Sabonis to defend, you may lose sight of one thing and be attacked by Green.
But now Thunder and Interior are McGee plus Brow.
The two people's exaggerated defensive coverage area easily covered Green.
Green took two steps and was immediately forced to throw the ball out quickly.
There is McGee in front, and there is Brow on the side.
If you dare Layup, you will immediately become a big hat.
After Durant on the wing received the ball, he directly pulled Three-Pointer against Grant.
Dang!!
Basketball pops up.
Brow takes advantage of the situation, defends Rebound under protection, and then passes the ball to Westbrook.
Westbrook quickly turned around after receiving the ball, and Chen Xi and the two of them advanced rapidly in perfect harmony.
Double Fast Break.
Both of them are very fast.
After crossing Midcourt Line, Westbrook passes the ball to Chen Xi.
Chen Xi catches the ball and dribbles it in two steps, stops suddenly at the Three-Pointer line, takes off directly, and looks like Chasedown Three-pointer.
Klay was so frightened that he immediately jumped up and interfered.
But this is a fake move.
Chen Xi plays the ball again after a brief pause in the air.
Basketball was pushed straight to the basket.
Westbrook, flying jump, alley-oop dunk.
Beng!!!!
Warriors, Basket at home, let out an overwhelmed groan.
From the connection between Westbrook and Chen Xi!!
As always, tacit cooperation.
Two points easily scored.
After landing, Westbrook pointed at Chen Xi, signaling a pass.
Chen Xi also patted his chest knowingly.
This harmonious scene made Durant, who was not far away, look in a trance again.
Once upon a time, he was also in this kind of environment.