Nevius: DeMarcus Cousins signing comes with questions for Warriors

Let’s Boogie.

So far, reactions to the Warriors signing DeMarcus (Boogie) Cousins have been pretty straightforward. He is either:

A proven All-Star added to a world champion roster. No rush to send back the Larry O’Brien championship trophy, guys. Why don’t you just keep it?

An injured, moody malcontent. He will rage against officials, stack up technicals and pull the celebrated Warriors chemistry apart.

No need to pick a side now. We won’t see Boogie until at least December, while he rehabs that torn Achilles.

But in the meantime, admit it - you never saw this coming. My theory is that general manager Bob Myers has found a metric that states: Every successful team must have one player that is wildly inconsistent with everything your franchise believes.

Last year it was Nick (Swaggy P) Young - who was fun, although not very helpful - and this season it is Boogie Cousins. Another odd fit.

Naturally there’s lots of talk about how well he will recover from what has often been a career-ending injury. People wonder if Cousins will be able to run and jump.

Which would be awesome. Because he didn’t do either of those before he tore the Achilles. The words “out on the break” and “Cousins” rarely appear together. He does have a jump shot and there are times when space can be detected between his shoes and the floor.

Boogie’s game is predicated on the fact that he is the biggest brawler on the floor. And, at least before the injury, he could move.

He could be a good late-in-?the-clock low post option - better than a long 3 at the buzzer. Also, it could be an end to the days of the Warriors’ rebounders getting pushed around.

Cousins is also, we should say, active and generous in the community.

But there’s the drama. Cousins takes foul calls extremely personally. One bad one can set him off. And once he is aggrieved, he is uncalmdownable.

The Warriors have to figure him for at least five ejections, even in half a season. Maybe there’s a hope that Cousins will serve as a flak catcher for Draymond Green, who will now only be the second-most likely to get T’d. Hopefully, they don’t set each other off or it will be T’s for two, all night long.

Which brings us to Steve Kerr. Hey, you can’t be a Zen coach if you don’t demonstrate calm in the face of adversity, right? Last year was a bit of a grind, but you held it together. Now, can you Boogie?

Kerr is likely up to the task. It’s no picnic to try to lead a group of young men who are wealthier, fitter and more famous than you. Kerr’s doing it with a sense of humor mixed with an edge. And the new contract, doubling his annual pay to $10 million, will help.

Besides, it could be worse. He could be former Warriors assistant Luke Walton, who is now the Lakers’ coach. Walton is presumably monitoring LeBron James news online because that’s the only way he will find out what’s going on.

Reports say James didn’t bother to check in with his coach after he accepted a ?$154 million offer to join the team.

Not that there weren’t problems to start with. This year the Lakers concluded their fifth consecutive losing season. And yes, they have a wonderful group of youngsters, but five years in a row is a trend, not a fluke.

Second, the LeBron-signs-and-a-cavalcade-of-stars-follow theory has hit a speed bump. Paul George, an LA guy, re-signed with the Thunder after a Laker flirtation.

Kawhi Leonard has everyone transfixed as it is decided where he will end up. But last week a story said signing LeBron made it less likely that he’d go to the Lakers.

Maybe something about the fact that Leonard was MVP in the 2014 Finals, with his Spurs defeating James’ Miami Heat. And now Leonard is supposed to come to LA and play second fiddle? Not appealing.

Remember, Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving was so eager to get away from James that he demanded a trade … a year after he and James won the NBA title.

Is it possible players are souring on the LA LeBrons? Maybe the word is, this guy is a load.

Personally, I think LeBron should have stayed in Cleveland. He was treated as a god that walked the earth there. He ran the show and everyone - from intimidated young guys to veterans who knew James was the reason they were on the roster - fell in line.

Now he’s come to LA to be a star. But there are lots of stars in LA. Just sayin’.

Meanwhile, there are the head-scratching Lakers’ recent signings. Why the rush to get Lance Stephenson and JaVale McGee? No idea. They could have signed them any time.

And then there’s the new guy, point guard Rajon Rondo. Talk about a finger in the eye of pushy-pop LaVar Ball. Not only is son Lonzo going to have to pick up his game, we’ve got a veteran, proven replacement right here. Oh and by the way, Rondo’s a little prickly, so I wouldn’t irritate him.

Which is fine except for two problems. First, this all but guarantees a LaVar vs. LeBron cage match. And second, wasn’t Lonzo supposed to be the new face of the franchise? Now he’s expendable?

So yeah, things are a little unsettled with the Warriors. But hey, it could be worse.

Boogie on.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius.