Philadelphia 76ers: 3 free agent center options for Joel Embiid injury

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DeMarcus Cousins (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

3 free agent center options: DeMarcus Cousins

There are very few players who have had harder falls from the upper tier of the NBA in recent history than DeMarcus Cousins. Recently, only Isaiah Thomas and Blake Griffin have had just as quick of a fall from grace as the former All-Star center.

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Cousins was at one point regarded as the best center in basketball in the mid-2010s. However, in a season that he and Anthony Davis were leading a New Orleans Pelicans team towards a playoff berth, he tore his Achilles. Since then a hamstring injury and a torn ACL have taken away much of what made Cousins great.

However, this season he has shown flashes of his All-Star self as a member of the Houston Rockets. Before getting mutually parting ways with the Rockets, he was averaging 9.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, while only making 37.6 percent of his shots from the floor.

Cousins has been a free agent since February 23, 2021 and has yet to decide which team he wants to play for. That being noted, if he decides that he would like to be a backup to Embiid and a fill-in starter for the Sixers, then he would be an upgrade over Howard and Bradly in those respective roles.

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The Philadelphia 76ers front office should give the team’s current center depth chart to prove they can maintain a solid level of play without Embiid. However, that doesn’t mean that the front office shouldn’t keep an eye on free agents that wouldn’t improve the center position.