Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Finals is set for Thursday night in Toronto, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr has announced that DeMarcus Cousins is active and will be available to play. 

Kerr declined to say what Cousins' workload will be, whether there will be a minutes restriction, and whether Cousins will reassume his starting role or come off the bench, but the latter seems most likely. Cousins tore his left quad in Game 2 of the Warriors' first-round series against the Clippers, and has been out of action for almost six weeks on the nose. He has been practicing and scrimmaging of late, but there is no way to simulate live game action, let alone the intensity of the NBA Finals. You can expect Cousins' conditioning to be a factor. 

This is to say nothing of his actual basketball rhythm. Cousins was still figuring out where he fit with the Warriors after returning in late January from nearly a full year on the shelf after tearing his Achilles tendon. He has less than two games of playoff experience in his career. Without Kevin Durant, who is out for at least Game 1 with that strained calf, Golden State has taken on an entirely new offensive approach. Cousins hasn't played a single game with them under those conditions. They are playing faster with the ball in Stephen Curry's hands for a lot of pick and rolls, so where does Cousins, not exactly an open-court player, fit into that?

For starters, he's simply another body. Golden State is at a depth deficit in this series, and Kerr being able to extend his rotation, even if Cousins can only give them 10 or 15 minutes, is a big plus. Beyond that, Cousins is a natural matchup for Marc Gasol on both ends, but you have to figure Toronto will be spotlighting him mercilessly in trying to force him into switches on the perimeter. 

Gasol is a natural pick-and-roll partner for Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, and all of those guys should be able to have their way with Cousins in one-on-one situations. Can he stay on the floor defensively? That's the number one question for Cousins right now. 

Offensively, Cousins showed an ability to perform on the perimeter as he worked his way back over the latter half of the regular season. He's a really good high-post passer who can serve as a hub to release some of the ball pressure on Curry, who can then get off the ball and start running through his maze of screens. 

Cousins can make 3-pointers and theoretically stretch defenders out, though I'd bet Toronto will be more than happy to let Cousins gun away, even if he's making a few. Watch for him trailing in transition. He can ht early-offense threes before the Raptors have accounted for everyone, or put the ball on the deck and create if Toronto is overzealous in its closeouts (they would be very wise to not do this). 

When Lowry and VanVleet are on the floor, the Warriors can theoretically run some screen actions through their men to force switches and go to Cousins in the post with the smaller player on him, but that is not what the Warriors do, and it's a fine line between trying to play to a theoretical matchup advantage at the expense of going against your own strengths. 

However and wherever the Warriors position Cousins, he will be a top option with Golden State's bench units that are short on scoring when Curry sits. Klay Thompson often starts the second quarter with four bench players, and he's really the only true scoring option, and even Thompson isn't a guy who creates a lot of offense on his own. Adding Cousins to those bench lineups, if nothing else, could net the Warriors a couple buckets in a game that could very well come down to a handful of possessions. 

The champs will certainly take whatever production they can get out of Cousins. Fact is, they never expected him to be back in the first place. Almost everyone figured Cousins was done for the season after he tore that quad. His return is a pure bonus from a team standpoint, but from an individual standpoint, good for Cousins. 

He signed a short-money deal with Golden State specifically for this reason: To get his first taste of big-stage NBA basketball. Well, he's got it now. There is no bigger stage than the NBA Finals. And Cousins will be in uniform and on the court. It's been a rough couple years from an injury standpoint, and you know Cousins is feeling like a little kid waiting for this game to start.