4 reasons why DeMarcus Cousins will thrive with the Rockets

DeMarcus Cousins had an impressive outing in his first game with the Houston Rockets, making a strong case to be optimistic about him going forward.

The Houston Rockets shined in their first game of the pre-season, with their recently acquired center DeMarcus Cousins giving an encouraging performance. While his contributions to the box score are certainly nice to look at, his stylistic fit with John Wall and with the team in general should give Rockets fans a lot of optimism about having him.

At least in the James Harden era of Rockets basketball, Houston has not had a true center with the sheer versatility of Cousins on the offensive end. While Dwight Howard and Clint Capela were productive during their tenure with the team, their offensive skillsets were relatively limited.

The Rockets now have a center who can be physical in the paint, shoot from the outside at a respectable level, pass and facilitate plays, and put the ball on the floor if needed; and he is not even the starting center.

Though Christian Wood did not play in the first game of the pre-season, the expectations of the young center are high in the Houston organization, and for good reason. Assuming he will perform to those expectations, Boogie is an amazing center to have coming off of the bench.

While the storm cloud of James Harden’s trade aspirations hangs over the head of Houston, fans should be excited about having Cousins as a backup center even if Harden does not stay with the team this season. There are several reasons to be optimistic about the former All-Star, starting with his impact on opening up the offense via shooting ability.

Next: No. 4