OAKLAND — The rehabilitation of DeMarcus Cousins enters its final phase this week, probably as soon as Monday.
He’s going to Santa Cruz to get in a few intensified practices with the G League Warriors, who aren’t scheduled to play a game until Friday.
Cousins has spent the past 10 months recovering and rehabbing after having surgery in January to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon. He has spent the past several weeks participating in practices and scrimmages with the NBA Warriors.
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The decision to send Cousins to the G League is based mostly on conditioning. He’ll endure more challenging in-season work in Santa Cruz than he would in the NBA.
His biggest adjustment, according to teammate Draymond Green, will be maintaining the pace at which the NBA Warriors like to play.
“Two things: It is a completely different pace than he’s ever played since he’s been in the NBA, and he’s coming off an Achilles injury doing it,” Green said Sunday. “That’s tough.
“Nonetheless, DeMarcus is one of greatest talents in this league. So we’re not going to play at some pace that he can’t play at and make him irrelevant to our offense. We’re going to make it work.”
Golden State Warriors
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Though Cousins can anticipate shuttling between Santa Cruz and Oakland this week, it’s expected that he will be with the NBA team this weekend. The Warriors will face his former team, the Kings, on Friday night in Sacramento.
The possibility of Cousins actually playing in a G League game is unlikely, according to one source, while another says it has not been completely ruled out.