Kerr hopes Cousins won’t be back — he’ll get more money elsewhere

OAKLAND — The Warriors signed Demarcus Cousins last summer to a surprisingly low $5.3 million with their taxpayer mid-level exception because of the league-wide concern about his surgically repaired left Achilles tendon. As far as re-signing him this summer, though? Kerr did not see how that would work.

“We made no bones about it when we signed him. This is a one-year deal and we’re not going to have money to sign him next year,” Kerr said in November. “So we’d like to help him win a championship and sign a great contract somewhere else. That’s the reality.”

Kerr’s skepticism had nothing to do with Cousins’ fit, his attitude or how he would recover from his left Achilles tendon injury. Per rules of the salary cap, the Warriors can only offer Cousins about a 20 percent raise which would be around a $6.3 million deal.

Still, some things have changed to soften Kerr’s stance. Even if they resign Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson this summer, they will miss a significant chunk of next season. Durant ruptured his right Achilles tendon against Toronto in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee in Game 6. Cousins’ market value remains unclear given he also missed 14 postseason games because of a torn left quad and showed mixed results with fitting in with the Warriors.

“I think there’s a chance,” Kerr said. “I would say the hope is that frankly he can do a lot better financially than what we can offer him. But who knows. Every year is different.”

After all, who could have predicted Cousins being available last summer? Despite his mixed progress in his conditioning and adjusting to the Warriors’ pace, they had praised him for how he mostly accepted his role with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. They liked how he mentored the team’s young players. And he even calmed Green down during his argument with Durant.

Cousins still averaged 16.3 points on 48 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists, numbers that are a little below his combined career averages with Sacramento (2010-2017) and New Orleans (2017-18) in points (21.2) and rebounds (10.9).