DeMarcus Cousins to the Lakers

The Lakers might have missed out on the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes but they may have gotten the next best thing, DeMarcus Cousins.

The big man is teaming up with stars LeBron James and former teammate Anthony Davis back when they played with each other on the Pelicans. Now they might not have gotten the results they wanted there together, but this is a new team and also having a LeBron James tag along on the journey with you definitely helps.

Also, whether or not this version of DeMarcus Cousins is still the Superstar caliber player Anthony Davis had teamed up with in New Orleans remains to be seen. He's had a host of injuries the last couple Seasons that kept him out over half the Regular Season last year and then he played banged up trying to play through injury in last year's Finals as well leaving Cousins to look like a shell of his former self.

When he did suit up for the Golden State Warriors last year healthy however, he did look like a potential star caliber player but not the Superstar DeMarcus Cousins we all know and love. The question is how much of it really was injuries? How much of it was less minutes? How much of it was too much star power on one team for everyone to put up huge numbers? Or is it time to accept reality that Cousins isn't what he used to be but still is a solid center that can potentially give you that MONSTER vintage performance once every couple months?

The other thing that will be very interesting is what will everyone's role be? With Kyle Kuzma playing Power Forward and some Small Forward in the lineup, he is flexible especially in the landscape of this positionless NBA today but with Davis and Cousins almost undoubtedly locking up the Power Forward and Center spots and James certainly locking up the Small Forward spot that looks like Kuzma is being moved to a 6th man role unless LeBron is willing to run Point Guard game in and game out like his Rookie Season which I don't see him doing and if he doesn't is Kuzma happy with a 6th man kind of role? 

Whatever it is the Lakers are obviously better off with this team having Cousin's as long as Cousin's buys into the team and the rest will just have to get in where they fit in but, even with this HUGE signing It may take not only the good version of Cousin's but, also the Superstar version of Cousins to truly set them apart as the clear cut favorite not just in the league, but also in their own city of L.A.

Here's to hoping the James, Davis and Cousins trio is one for the ages like it appears on paper and not just a lineup that leaves us saying what could have been if this was a team just a few years earlier?

Either way I am hopeful and look forward to the battles in L.A. more than ever now, as the Clippers and Lakers fight for supremacy as they're as evenly matched plus stacked with talent as I've ever seen them.

Let the games begin!

DeMarcus Cousins averaged 16.3 PPG/8.2 RPG/3.6 APG Last Season for the Golden State Warriors.