Barber: Doors opening for DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick McCaw

OAKLAND

It was a day of comings and goings at Warriors headquarters on Thursday. It was a day of transition.

DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins, the team’s shiny new toy, addressed the media for the first time since he spoke in Santa Cruz in December, and for the first time in this downtown Oakland setting since, as far as I can tell, Media Day in mid-October. Cousins, who ruptured his Achilles tendon on Jan. 26, 2018, is slated to return to the court nearly one year later, against the Clippers in Los Angeles on Jan. 18.

“It’s a relief,” he said. “It’s been a long year for me. A lot of ups and down. But the finish line is ahead, and I’m extremely excited to be back on the floor.”

Cousins didn’t seem particularly excited when he said it. He’s not that kind of guy. The 7-footer did share a couple laughs - once when recalling a game in Sacramento from which Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected by a referee, and once when Cousins narrowly stopped himself from naming previous coaches who wouldn’t have allowed themselves such an emotional display.

Generally, though, Cousins came off as both relaxed and eager. Kerr acknowledged that the center’s minutes and rotations will be a work in progress, but confirmed that the four-time NBA All-Star will be in the starting lineup when he makes his Warriors debut.

“I don’t think anybody can really understand this, and I don’t expect them to, unless they’ve experienced it theirselves,” Cousins said of his arduous physical rehabilitation. “It’ll be a lot of emotions. It’ll be a big day for me.”

The Warriors have been cautious with Cousins, as befits a talent-laden team that has won three of the past four NBA titles. But they didn’t sign him to be a cheerleader or a mentor to Jordan Bell. They need his energy and his playmaking ability on both ends of the court.

Tuesday night, when the Warriors crushed the visiting New York Knicks, I wrote about what Cousins might mean for this occasionally lethargic team. We also might consider what this season can do for the player.

Cousins was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Pelicans last season, and was on his way to another All-Star appearance. Then the tendon snapped, and everything changed. That’s a serious injury, especially for a big man. In a flash, his NBA stock plummeted.

“You think about when the injury happened, he’s getting ready to sign a max or near-max contract, whether with New Orleans or somebody else,” Kerr said. “It’s a life-changing amount of money. Not to mention the gratification that comes with being one of the best players in the world and an All-Star, and right in his prime. And that all went down the drain for him. So think about that.

“So as he’s going through rehab, he’s only human, he had to be thinking, ‘Man, what happened? All of a sudden I’m in Golden State on a mid-level (contract) for one year, and rehabbing every day, and watching everybody else play basketball.’ That’s not easy.”

If Cousins can (A) get back to full health and (B) prove capable of fitting in with a contender like the Warriors, he might get that max contract after all.

It’s a hopeful story. But it wasn’t the only news involving Warriors past, present and future. Also on Thursday, Patrick McCaw agreed to sign with the Toronto Raptors, another chapter in one of the strangest sagas to surround this team since Kerr took over in 2014.

Here’s a quick outline of McCaw’s tangled path since June: A restricted free agent going into this third season with the Warriors, he declined to sign the team’s qualifying offer, then rejected a two-year deal for $5.2 million (with the second year not guaranteed). Months elapsed with little communication between the two sides. Then McCaw signed with the Cavaliers on Dec. 28, only to be waived after three games.

McCaw’s Cleveland contract had no guarantees. That organization lost nothing by releasing him, but Golden State lost its rights to the lanky guard. At the Warriors’ urging, the NBA is investigating the transaction.

Unlike Cousins, McCaw is a minor role player. His presence wouldn’t make or break the Warriors’ season. But I would love to know what has driven his decisions.

The most common theory bandied about by fans and sports-radio hosts is that McCaw simply overplayed his hand. He listened to his agent, or maybe his dad, and he set his value higher than the Warriors did. He thought he could get a more lucrative offer from them, or from another team, and held out for the opportunity. He was wrong.

I don’t know the real story (and McCaw failed to elaborate when asked about it in Cleveland), but I am certain there’s more to it than that.

I was at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland when the Warriors clinched the championship last June. The postgame scene, as you can imagine, was bedlam - players dancing, players guzzling Moet et Chandon champagne, players dousing one another with booze and hugging family members.

In the midst of the commotion, I noticed McCaw in the cramped visitors’ locker room. He wasn’t joyous. He wasn’t even smiling. He sat somber-faced with then-head trainer Chelsea Lane, who patiently massaged his legs. A little while later, McCaw was in the hallway, sobbing into his father’s chest. He remained in that pose for some time, head buried.

McCaw largely went unnoticed that night. Those who wrote about him framed his reaction as a swirl of emotions that overwhelmed a young athlete who had survived a major back injury and had returned, albeit diminished, to play in every game of the NBA Finals.

Again, I can’t tell you what was truly going through McCaw’s mind, because I haven’t talked to him about it. But this was no mixed bag of feelings. It looked a lot like despair. I think McCaw knew that night that he wouldn’t be returning to the Warriors.

I asked Kerr on Thursday if he was surprised at McCaw’s most recent move.

“Not really,” the coach said. “Patrick’s a very good player. He’s a modern-day NBA wing - you know, long arms, good defender. I’ve always liked Patrick. Everybody here - management, coaches, teammates - we’ve all liked him. So it’s not a surprise at all that a great team like Toronto would pick him up. There’s a reason we drafted him, there’s a reason we wanted him here. … We wish him the best.”

At least until June. Toronto happens to have won more games than any other NBA team this season. It’s not unreasonable to predict a Warriors-Raptors final in 2019 - a series that could pit the newest Warrior, Boogie Cousins, against a recent non-Warrior, Patrick McCaw. If that happens, we can look back to Thursday as the day that set the scene.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-529-5218 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.