When watching DeMarcus Cousins play and evaluating his numbers over the years, it has always been easy to latch onto the things he does wrong, such as throw tantrums and get technical fouls, and overlook what he does right, such as put up 20.5 points and 10.8 rebounds a game over the course of his six-plus seasons in the NBA.
Even when you take his scoring and rebounding into account, his below-average field goal percentage (46.1 percent in his career) and relatively low shot-blocking numbers (1.2 BPG in his career) for a big man have made it a trendy play to pass on him in favor of players such as Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns and Hassan Whiteside.
But guess what? That perception has to change.
Not only is Cousins still scoring this season, putting up a career-high 28.7 PPG, but he's also still rebounding (10.4 RPG). On top of that, his shooting percentage of 47.2 percent would be the second-highest in his career if the season ended today. There's more too. Cousins is dishing out more than three assists per game and getting more than one steal and one block per game, and he has become a force from 3-point land, shooting 39 percent from long range and making a career-best 1.7 3s per game.
In a week with only a few major changes, Cousins is one of the headliners, moving ahead of Chris Paul and Karl-Anthony Towns to No. 10 on the list. Meanwhile, injury concerns stemming from Hassan Whiteside's ailing knee move him down to No. 9, with LeBron James leapfrogging him and moving to No. 8.
Zach LaVine's standout week leads to a big jump to 45. Minnesota's third-year guard has played 38.8 minutes per game his past five contests and averaged 21.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1 steal and 1.6 3s in that span. His 36.3 minutes per game this season are tied with teammate Andrew Wiggins for sixth in the league, and you shouldn't expect that to change under coach Tom Thibodeau.
Elsewhere around the league, Mike Conley's transverse process fracture in his vertebrae is expected to sideline him six-to-eight weeks, and we have moved the Memphis point guard down to No. 99 as a result. Also, with Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin IV expected to serve as Conley's main fill-ins at point guard, we have listed Harrison at 150 and will track the rookie Baldwin in the weeks ahead to see if he warrants a spot on the list.
Notable additions to this week's rankings include athletic Denver rookie guard Jamal Murray, whose huge week (18.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 2.8 3PG in his past five games) elevates him all the way to No. 106. Terrence Jones (96), Cody Zeller (110) and Frank Kaminsky (141) are three other newcomers, though Jones should have been included in last week's list.
Here is the full rundown of the updated Top 150 rankings:
