The Nuggets have several burning offseason Q’s to answer this summer. Over the next several weeks, DNVR Nuggets will break down how Denver could approach each one both here and on the DNVR Nuggets Podcast. Make sure to subscribe on Apple or Spotify.

Before DeMarcus Cousins got to Denver, you held your breath every time Nikola Jokic left the game. The 10-point advantage that Jokic and the Nuggets’ starters had just spotted the bench to open the first quarter? It wasn’t safe. In fact, no lead was. The Nuggets’ second unit bled points and surrendered leads like it was their job.

Denver held a -12.5 Net Rating with Jokic off the floor over their first 44 games this season before Cousins came to town. That worked out to -221 in 831 minutes. Somehow, it felt worse. It was beyond ugly, but Cousins’ presence bucked that trend. The Nuggets signed Cousins to his first 10-day contract on Jan. 21. He debuted on Jan. 23 in a 117-111 win over the Pistons. With Cousins manning the center spot on Denver’s second unit, the Nuggets cut their Net Rating with Jokic off the court to -2.2 over the remaining 38 games of the season.

After Feb. 25 when Denver signed Cousins for the rest of the season, that Net Rating dropped to -1.2 (only -10 in 396 minutes) with Jokic off the floor. His impact was season-changing.

The Nuggets will have strong interest in re-signing Cousins, a source told DNVR, once free agency opens, but his market could determine if he ultimately returns. Denver is heading toward paying the luxury tax next season, and Cousins, I would think, wants to cash out for as much money and guaranteed years as possible considering his injury history. There’s a chance his strong close to the season priced him out of the Nuggets’ plans.

The argument against Cousins

You can make the case that Denver should look elsewhere for a backup center next season. Cousins comes with injury concerns. He was hampered by lower-body injuries during his first two 10-day contracts with the Nuggets but was able to stay healthy and available once Denver signed him for the rest of the year. Can you count on Cousins to be available for most of 82 games and be consistently available to spell Jokic throughout the grind of the regular season? That’s a factor Denver will have to think about when deciding what type of money to offer him.

An offensive-first center probably isn’t the perfect fit on the Nuggets next season either. Plus, it’s not like Cousins was efficient. He shot only 59% at the rim, which placed him in the 13th percentile among all centers, per Cleaning the Glass. Cousins also shot 39% from the midrange and 33% from 3. Rim protection and paint defense — two things Cousins doesn’t really provide — seem to be near the top of the Nuggets’ wish list for this summer to pair with a roster that will include Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Defense, not offense, seems like it would be more important with the group Denver is bringing back.

“We were 30th in opponent’s rim field goal percentage. We were 29th in blocks per game. It’s a bad combination when you struggled to guard the ball on the perimeter and you don’t have Dikembe Mutombo blocking shots behind you,” Michael Malone said in his exit interview almost two weeks ago. “We have to get better in terms of guarding our paint. We gave up 50 points a night in our paint, which is I think bottom-5 in the NBA. That is a big concern and area that we need to focus on.”

“You can work on that individually. Guys can get better in terms of guarding and containing. But I think it’s something where you can’t bleed at the rim the way we bled at the rim this year and expect to be an elite defense. I think to be a dangerous, deep playoff team, you have to have an elite defense. That’s one of the areas that we have to really focus on moving forward.”

Also, there’s this: Sportrac’s fines and suspensions tracker has Cousins down for 13 technical fouls and two ejections in the 36 games he played with the Nuggets this season. I feel for Cousins. His reputation that’s been built up over his 10-year career gets him whistled for technicals that no other player in the league would get called for. But it’s his reality now and likely forever.

The argument for Cousins

The case for keeping Cousins starts in Game 5 of the Nuggets’ first-round series against the Warriors. With Jokic in foul trouble and bothered by a bad hamstring, Cousins stepped in to score 19 points, 11 of which came in the second half, on 8-12 shooting and 2-3 from 3-point range. He was the key reason why Denver stayed afloat in the third quarter and managed to outscore the Warriors 30-22 in the period. Cousins’ 19 points in Game 5 were the second-highest total from a Nugget after Jokic’s 30.

It was a clear example of what Cousins can be when healthy. It was evidence of how he can turn a game in the Nuggets’ favor with Jokic on the bench. When he’s at his best, Cousins can punish smaller bench lineups, pin his matchup under the rim like he did to Nemanja Bjelica in that Game 5, and be an efficient scorer. He still makes the defense uncomfortable. He can still force an opposing coach to alter his defensive game plan. Cousins can also still get hot from 3, even though he wasn’t consistent enough with his shot this year. After signing for the rest of the season on Feb. 25 Cousins shot 23-62 (37.1%) from 3 over Denver’s final 28 games of the year (including playoffs).

I felt like Cousins’ presence and leadership turned the Nuggets into a tougher team. He gave Denver an edge that it didn’t previously have. You felt it on the court and within the flow of a game. Yes, that edge and that notorious Cousins stare sometimes led to unwarranted and also avoidable technical fouls, but no one wants to mess with Cousins when he’s on the court.

Malone said this back in February, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Michael Malone discussing DeMarcus Cousins this morning on @AltitudeSR: "I think players in the NBA are scared of him."

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) February 28, 2022

The differentials I referenced earlier are also key in any argument to re-sign Cousins. He turned Denver’s bench into a fine second unit that somehow didn’t lose too much steam when Jokic went to the bench late. He was just flat out…good. The Cousins-Bones Hyland two-man game also worked, and those two discovered a healthy chemistry and synergy as the season wore on. He set bone-crunching screens and flashed the high-level passing ability that he’s always had.

The verdict

Publicly, Denver was non-committal on re-signing Cousins after the season ended. President Tim Connelly, general manager Calvin Booth, and Michael Malone were all given a chance to say in some form or way, ‘Yes, we want to bring DeMarcus back next season,’ but none did.

In 2018, Connelly came out after the season and said the team wanted to re-sign Barton. After last season, Connelly indicated he wanted to bring back as many of the Nuggets’ current free agents as possible. He ended up re-signing Will Barton, JaMychal Green and Austin Rivers and Aaron Gordon (to an extension starting in 2022-23), and not JaVale McGee or Shaq Harrison. Cousins’ tone after the season was along the lines of, “I don’t know what the future holds.”

On free agency: Connelly says he wants to bring back as many of the Nuggets' current free agents as possible. "We like our core. We like the pulse of our locker room. We like the competitive spirit. We'll be pretty picky when looking for the type of guys to add to that mix."

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) July 30, 2021

If it was me, I’d try to re-sign Cousins, but I wouldn’t give him more than one year of guaranteed money. Backup center has been a revolving door for Denver since Mason Plumlee left, and Cousins definitely worked as Jokic’s backup. I’d continue to ride that train. But injury concerns will follow Cousins for the rest of his career and I think Denver needs a reliable, defensive presence on the interior more than an offensive one. Cousins isn’t a perfect fit with this roster, but what happened last season can’t be denied.

Whether or not to re-sign Cousins is just one of the many burning questions the Nuggets have to answer this offseason.