The 28-year-old center tore his left quadriceps muscle last week during the Warriors’ Game 2 matchup with the Clippers. Cousins signed a one-year, $5.3 million deal with the Warriors in July and missed the team’s first 45 games as he continued to recover from a torn Achilles.
One anonymous Western Conference executive told Bleacher Report the injuries could hurt Cousins’ value this summer.
The executive said:
Cousins finished the regular season averaging 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game. He has also played for the Kings and Pelicans over his nine-year career.
Another executive added:
Cousins suffered the quad injury when he fell chasing down a loose ball on a fast break in the first quarter of Golden State’s loss to the Clippers. He was helped back to the locker room and was ruled out shortly after.
Cousins began his rehab program Tuesday, coach Steve Kerr told reporters. But, the team is not optimistic about Cousins’ return.
“It was good to see him, and obviously we’ve been gone the last week or so,” Kerr said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s good for everyone to see him and vice versa. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks once we have a better sense of his healing and his ability to maybe get on the court.
“Who knows? But at this point, I’d say it’s highly unlikely (he returns in the playoffs).”
The four-time All-Star has averaged 21.2 points and 10.9 rebounds over 565 NBA games.
