NBA free agency hurtled from the sublime to the ridiculous Tuesday (NZ time), with new that the champion Golden State Warriors had added All-Star centre DeMarcus Cousins to their roster for next season.
Coming just 24 hours after superstar LeBron James announced his move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers, this signing has left many lamenting the state of a competition that has been won three of the last four years by the already stacked Warriors.
The only time Golden State didn't prevail, they were pipped by the then James-led Cavaliers in 2016.
Now, the northern California powerhouse can field an all All-Star starting five that previously boasted guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and forwards Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.
Cousins, known to his fans as 'Boogie', has climbed on the bandwagon with a one-year, US$5.3 million deal that is chicken feed to a player of his stature, but one clearly aimed at winning a championship ring.
He'll miss the first few months of next season, rehabilitating an Achilles tendon tear that ended his 2017/18 campaign after just 48 games, when he averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists, shooting 35 percent from the arc.
His addition to the Warriors is like pushing the fuel-injection button on a dragster. Eat my dust, suckers.
"Summer is only just staring and it's done," former NBA centre Brandan Haywood told NBA TV. "We already thought the Golden State Warriors were the best team in the league.
"We were thinking if you squinted your eyes, maybe, maybe Boston could give them a run in the finals.
"But with Boogie Cousins on a team that doesn't need him to be great… it's a wrap.
"The NBA, right now, needs to be very afraid. The Golden State Warriors, who were already terrifying, just got a lot better."
Best reaction to the news, though, came from New York Knicks centre Enes Kanter, who tweeted a meme of the Warriors announcing they had also signed NBA commissioner Adam Silver to a contract.
Newshub.
