Warriors Reportedly Opted for DeMarcus Cousins Over Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard, who was recently traded from the Charlotte Hornets to the Brooklyn Nets, has reportedly reached a buyout with the Nets and is nearing a deal with the Wizards. It appears the defending champion Warriors considered pursuing Howard, but that idea was shot down quickly.

The Warriors opted instead to sign four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, stunning the NBA fan cosmos. Adding Cousins may seem like a risk at first glance—but it's certainly a lesser risk than adding Howard, who's been known to divide locker rooms.

On the most recent episode of Zach Lowe's excellent podcast, The Lowe Post, he asked Warriors beat writer Tim Kawakami whether the Warriors' organization was "thrilled" with signing Cousins.

"I have not heard thrilled," Kawakami shared. "I've heard bold, I've heard risk taking is good, and I've heard—I haven't reported this, so maybe this will get aggregated—it's better than Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard was a no. That was a no in a lot of precincts of the Warriors, flat-out no. So DeMarcus Cousins, against that backdrop, is a thumbs up."

The Dwight discussion begins around the 39:30 mark of the episode.

"Dwight Howard was a no," Kawakami added. "That was, no, let's not do that...they're both risks, you had to take one—let's go get DeMarcus Cousins."

Cousins agreed to a one-year deal at the mid-level exception worth $5.3 million. He is coming back from a devastating Achilles tear in January. Though Boogie on the Warriors should be fun to watch, not everyone is thrilled about it.