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On Thursday, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post reported that Wizards Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Tommy Sheppard had a brief conversation with Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins, You know, one of John Wall’s best friends.
I’m hearing that #Wizards interim president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard spoke briefly with free agent DeMarcus Cousins recently in Las Vegas. The conversation was described as just small talk but still — a very interesting development.
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) July 4, 2019
As Buckner noted, the conversation was “just small talk.” Something like this conversation which is TOTALLY HYPOTHETICAL BY THE WAY.
Tommy Sheppard: Hey Boogie, what’s up man? (shows fist at Cousins for a fist bump)
DeMarcus Cousins: All good Tom. (fist bumps Sheppard).
Tommy Sheppard: Are you going to the Mandalay Bay tomorrow? I hear the Cool Kids in Town (a/k/a the Washington Mystics) are gonna put on a show.
DeMarcus Cousins: Yeah, they’re freaking good. If only I could be part of it!
Okay, so in this HYPOTHETICAL CONVERSATION, Sheppard and Cousins just want to see Elena Delle Donne and the Washington Mystics. They are playing the Aces tomorrow. The Mystics have the best regular season record in the WNBA right now. And they are now a hot ticket in town.
But of course, small talk can go in many directions. If Cousins and Sheppard literally had this conversation, it could be taken out of context, making it seem that the two will meet up to gamble at the Mandalay Bay before hammering out a contract.
Ultimately, let’s not speculate about this until Cousins is serious about signing with the Wizards. Las Vegas is a hotspot for all the NBA’s stars and executives. So I don’t care if Sheppard said “Hi” to Cousins.
This isn’t a knock on Buckner. I love her reporting on the team. And I won’t lie, there is a side of me that wonders how the NBA would react if Cousins seriously thought about Washington.
Until then, I just don’t believe anything about Cousins signing with the Wizards until he does.
And even if Cousins DID sign with Washington, it doesn’t give a good look for the organization since they already signed Thomas Bryant to a contract extension. They also have Dwight Howard AND Ian Mahinmi on the roster. So there’s no need to add another center to the roster.