OAKLAND, Calif. _ There's a good chance we saw DeMarcus Cousins' final game in a Warriors uniform on Monday night.
The Golden State big man tore his left quad in the first quarter of Game 2 of the Warriors' Western Conference first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers and will in all likelihood miss the rest of the playoffs.
He's not expected to need surgery _ so the injury itself isn't catastrophic.
But the effects of it are.
Cousins' first-ever postseason is over after 25 minutes. His hopes of a nine-figure, long-term contract in free agency this upcoming summer were likely stamped out in his first-quarter tumble, too.
Cousins is 28 years old. He should be in the middle of his prime _ combining the savvy that comes from his experience in the league with the powers of his physical peak.
But it's hard to imagine that we'll never see what one of the most talented big men in NBA history could have been.
Yes, Cousins will play next year, but his journey has been irrevocably knocked off course _ again.
Cousins wasn't even close to regaining the prowess he had before he tore his left Achilles tendon as a member of the Pelicans last year with the Warriors. He needed a big postseason to prove that he was still one of the NBA's premier big men.
Now, he adds another big injury to the same leg, only fueling the notion that he's irrevocably damaged goods.
For a big man, leg injuries are death sentences, and Cousins is no wiry center _ he's listed at 270 pounds and often played heavier than that.
Fair or not, it's hard to imagine many teams will line up to sign his services this summer.
Monday's injury does increase the once next-to-nil chance that he re-signs with the Warriors. Golden State can only give him a 20 percent raise on the mid-level exception contract he signed this past summer _ roughly $6.3 million _ in July.
At one point, that would not have been nearly enough _ Cousins came to Golden State to take a steady, measured, unrushed approach to his Achilles injury rehabilitation in an effort to land the nine-figure contract he deserved before that injury. But now? Well, much like last year, Golden State's might be in position to extend the best offer.
There's so much in flux for the Warriors this summer with Kevin Durant's free agency _ no decisions have been made nor will be made until Golden State knows, officially, what Durant wants to do.
But, while it's easy to think that keeping Cousins might mitigate the sting of Durant's increasingly likely exit, I would not expect a Year Two of the Boogie Experiment in the Bay.
Cousins wasn't really worth the trouble for the Warriors this year.
In many ways, his biggest contribution came before he hit the court. Cousins' return allowed the Warriors to procrastinate engaging with the regular season, and the anticipation around his first game was a steady and welcome distraction to a team that was beleaguered by four straight trips to the NBA Finals and the toxic peculiarity and forebodingness of Durant's looming decision.
But, much like a top-of-the-list Christmas toy, the luster around Cousins quickly dissipated once he actually hit the floor.
Warriors players and coaches took the time and energy to help Cousins to fit into the championship-winning system _ and there were stretches where it looked seamless _ but the big man's projection of his frustration with his not-as-powerful skillset was yet another bit of drama in a locker room at full capacity and by the time the postseason rolled around, there were legitimate questions if he was a bonafide defensive liability in the defense-defined postseason.
Before the injury, Cousins was one-and-done on his terms. But while the ball now lies in the Warriors' court, the result is likely to be the same.
The Warriors don't need Cousins. They never did. They remain the title favorites without their mercurial big man sidelined for the remainder of the season _ such is the preponderance of their talent.
But Golden State's margin for error has, no doubt, tightened yet again without a fifth All-Star _ and a third-level of scoring, in the post _ in the fold.
Still, the lack of Cousins might not be felt for the Warriors until the NBA Finals, should they advance.
The Warriors don't need Cousins to beat the Clippers or their likely second-round opponent, the Rockets _ who could have rendered Cousins truly unplayable with targeted James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela pick-and-rolls.
The bottom half of the Western Conference bracket shouldn't scare the Warriors either.
In short: The Warriors will not be able to blame Cousins' injury if they do not advance to a modern record fifth-straight Finals.
Nevertheless, moving forward, there's more pressure on Kevon Looney to keep up his outstanding-as-of-late play. There will be more minutes at center for Draymond Green, too _ which means more wear-and-tear for the battle-worn Warrior. Jordan Bell will no doubt be called upon, on occasion, to contribute _ something the Warriors staff no doubt wanted to avoid, if they could.
And Andrew Bogut _ re-signed out of Australia, in part as a distraction following the disillusionment with the Cousins experiment _ is going to see a lot more playing time than either he or the Warriors expected a few weeks ago.
