Boogie is Coming Back Tonight and That Sucks For Everybody Not in Golden State

July 2, 2018: I may have been sitting in my bed, I could've been in the car. I don't remember exactly where I was, but I remember exactly how I felt. (I may have actually been sitting on the toilet, now that I think about it.) Innocently scrolling through Twitter, I saw a tweet from Woj; I just didn't know I'd be seeing a god damn bomb. "DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a deal with Golden State, league sources tell ESPN." My heart sank, at that time, to the bottom of my asshole (too far?), and a feeling of vanquish overcame me. Boogie had been my favorite player in the league since Kobe retired, and this move just felt like a stab in the back. How could he just go and join the Warriors to become the fifth multiple time All-Star in their championship lineup? It later made sense why he chose Golden State during that Showtime documentary about his free agency, but still, his signing made the Warriors a literal Western Conference All-Star lineup.

I was truly distraught

Back to present day. Tonight Boogie's making his Warriors debut against the Clippers as the team's starting center, and it's surely going to be interesting. This is going to be Boogie's first game in a year and Achilles injuries are notoriously difficult for NBA players to come back from. Luckily for Boogie he's on the fucking Warriors so it's not like a bad performance from him will hurt them too much, and I can't imagine he'll play more than 20-25 minutes. His fit on the team is going to be interesting, and my eyes are going to be on his play style. Is he going to use his size and skills to command the post, or is he going to try and become more of a stretch-five and rain from the perimeter along with the rest of his teammates.

The Warriors recently reclaimed the top seed in the West, and adding Boogie into the mix is only going to make them more lethal. Boogie has averaged at least 24 points per game since 2014-15, and made four straight All-Star appearances (2015-2018); he was the best center in the league before his injury, that skill doesn't just disappear. In some practice videos posted in the last few weeks he looked a tad slow, but that's to be expected. He also posterized KD, so that should be an encouraging sign, even if it was just in practice. The Warriors don't seem worried about him, which means everybody else should be. This is quite possibly the best lineup ever assembled (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, DeMarcus Cousins, wow, holy shit, this is going to be a thing tonight) and I have a feeling they're going to make their early-season doubters eat their words. Matchups are going to be a nightmare for most teams, especially bad ones, and the barrage of three-pointers is going to be insanely absurd. Being able to use five All-Stars throughout multiple lineups for the remainder of the regular season and the entire postseason might prove too powerful, but there could also be some outliers that steer the Warriors from success...

The early-season chemistry issues stemming from KD and Draymond's in-game argument were well documented and thoroughly analyzed, and Boogie doesn't have the reputation of being a peacemaker within locker rooms. I think he knows what's at stake, though, and Steve Kerr has probably made that very clear to him. There's almost no way he's not on a minutes restriction (unless I'm completely wrong) and getting adjusted to NBA speed again will be a grind, but Boogie's return just puts the Warriors back in prime position to make their fifth straight Finals and win their fourth championship in said appearances.

Not related to the Warriors, but Wendell Carter Jr. is out for like three months so I want the city of Chicago to start getting ready to give Zion a warm welcome in June.

I also meant to post this hours ago, but I got a little sidetracked, but at least I got it out before tip-off.