It will take a lot of muscle power to be able to stop the Cavaliers from running through the East again this year. But their biggest Eastern Conference rival, the Toronto Raptors, may have one trick up their sleeves. And it involves getting the best center in the game, DeMarcus Cousins, to finally beat the Cavs.
The Raptors have been the perennial gatekeeper for the Cavs last season. And unless they do something drastic, there is no way that they are beating Lebron James and Co. But that drastic measure may come in the form of trading for DeMarcus Cousins. And if this truly happens, then expect the Raptors to have a really great shot of finally beating their Eastern Conference Rivals.
After being linked to a lot of teams, the DeMarcus Cousins saga may end up with three potential landing spots. First is Boston who has numerous assets to give Sacramento. The second is the Portland Trailblazers to form an incredible Lillard-Cousins combo, and last is, of course, the Toronto Raptors.
According to a report, The Raptors are willing to give up Jonas Valenciunas, Cory Joseph, and guard Norman Powell to get Cousins. While this may seem like a long shot, remember that the King's are in rebuild mode and may want to dump Cousins far off in the East where he would not do much damage to them.
Admittedly, the Raptors may be on the losing end of the bidding war for Cousin's services. But hey, stranger things have happened like Kevin Durant, Steph, Klay, and Draymond getting to play together.
If they manage to nab DeMarcus Cousins. Things can definitely get ugly for the Cavs. As you might remember, the Raptors were two wins away from reaching the finals until they were finally beaten soundly by the Cavs. Their success was largely due to the defensive interior play of Bismack Biyombo. With Biyombo now gone to free agency, Cousins is surely the best upgrade when it comes to interior presence.
One downfall of Toronto is their over-reliance on the isolation play. When Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan have good nights, it is almost impossible to win against them. But when one of them suffer an off night, then the team who does not seem to have a plan B is often relegated to forcing up shots on isolation plays. The Cavs have capitalized on this when they went on to win in six at last year's Eastern Conference finals.
But the addition of Cousins can definitely remedy that. A consistent post player can help Toronto gather points when the two are having off nights. Cousins will also be a headache on offense as he tends to clog the paint a lot. This will give Lebron sleepless nights when he tries to drive inside the paint against the Raptors.
Another thing that Cousins can give the Raptors is a mean streak. The Raptors sorely lack that extra motivation and drive that the ultra emotional Cousins can give them.
The Sacramento Kings will have to give up Cousins sooner or later. It is only a matter of time before fans will now where the talented center lands.
