Lakers Injury Update: DeMarcus Cousins Advancing Toward Beginning ‘Light Warmup Stuff’

Matthew Moreno
3 Min Read
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

As the Los Angeles Lakers looked to fill out the roster around Anthony Davis and LeBron James, one of their more intriguing signings in 2019 NBA free agency was DeMarcus Cousins.

He was coming off another severe injury but remained determined to make good on a one-year deal.

Cousins was excited to play alongside James and reunite with Davis and Rajon Rondo, his former New Orleans Pelicans teammates. Cousins vowed to accept any role Lakers head coach Frank Vogel would have for him, even if it meant playing off the bench.

Unfortunately, how Cousins would integrate himself on the Lakers roster has yet to be seen as he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. The recovery process for such an injury suggested Cousins would not take the court during the 2019-20 NBA season, however the Lakers have remained adamant it’s still possible.

The 29-year-old has recently begun to increase his on-court activity and during Friday’s shootaround, he was going through another workout.

“As far as I know, he’s still on track and it’s still a possibility to return this year, but I can’t really go into more detail than that,” Vogel reiterated.

Meanwhile, Cousins’ progression has him nearing the start of some running. “He’s going to start working into a little bit of light warmup stuff,” Vogel added. “But that’s just like light jogging and those types of things. He still has a long way to go.”

At best, Cousins would figure to return during the Western Conference Finals or NBA Finals. That, of course, would require the Lakers to advance that far. Los Angeles was awarded a $1.75 million disabled player exception in the wake of Cousins’ injury and surgery, which they have yet to utilize.

Although Cousins has yet to make a direct impact on the court, he’s been praised by Davis, Jared Dudley, and Vogel, among others, for his leadership and influence.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers games, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com