LAS VEGAS — The Warriors had to zip their collective lip about DeMarcus Cousins until he was officially signed. That happened Friday night, freeing coach Steve Kerr to talk about his team’s new toy. He did so before the Warriors’ game against the Clippers in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Q: How did you find out?

A: It was just out of the blue. I was driving up to L.A. from San Diego. (General manager) Bob (Myers) called me and had a list of (possible players to sign) and he said, “There’s been a little bit of a shake-up. We’ve got a new name for you.”

Q: What was your first thought?

A: “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” that was my thought. For 5.3 (million dollars)? And then it all made sense. I knew it was a thin market this year, and not a lot of teams had money. With the injury (Cousins’ Achilles rupture), and Dallas goes and gets DeAndre (Jordan), that would have been a team you thought maybe would go after (Cousins).

So he just kind of slipped through the cracks, and in the end I think it worked out really well — obviously for us, but I think for him, too. He’s got a chance to really kind of put his career on a new course, and help us. We’re going to need him, he can hopefully help us to win a championship, and we can put him in a great position for free agency next summer, that’s the idea.

Q: When you got the word, did you immediately start drawing up plays in your head?

A: I did. I did. I started thinking about different ways we could use him. I think we can do some of the things we did with (Andrew) Bogut, some of the actions we ran with him. Bogut was such a great passer and DeMarcus is a tremendous passer. I think we can put the ball in his hands either on the perimeter or on the low block. We’ve never had a low-post player like him. It’s exciting, it gives us the opportunity to play with a new dimension.

Q: Have you talked to Cousins yet?

A: We just had dinner.

Q: Who paid?

A: The Warriors.

Q: What did you talk about?

A: We talked a lot about expectations for each side, and how we might use him. We’re on the same page. It’s obviously easier in July to talk about how much sacrifice has to be made. But I told him before he agreed to come, I said, “You realize there’s going to be seven straight possessions where you don’t touch the ball because Steph (Curry), Klay (Thompson) and KD (Kevin Durant) are jacking it every time.” He said, “I know.”

But I told him what’s unique about our team, whoever’s got the hot hand, our guys love to feed that guy. ... It’s rare to have superstars who are as unselfish as our guys. He knows, some nights are going to be his (scoring) nights, some nights are going to be other guys’ nights, but in the end we’re trying to win a championship and he gives us a better chance to do that.

Q: This puts pressure on you, to make sure this guy fits in and you keep everything running smoothly.

A: It’s a good kind of pressure. You always want the pressure that comes with adding great talent. But more than that, this gives us a new theme for next year. Every year is so different, and I think our team is at the point where our core guys have been doing this for so long, they need challenges, and this is a great challenge for us, to figure out how to play with DeMarcus.

Q: Did he express thoughts on ways you might use him?

A: A little bit, yeah. He told me he wants to be a passer, that he wants to help facilitate offense for our guys. ... It will be a little like incorporating (Durant, when he came to the Warriors). A guy who’s used to having the ball in his hands. But it adds a different dimension than KD.

Q: The spotlight’s going to be on you to make sure this thing doesn’t blow up and everybody stays happy.

A: DeMarcus has the reputation of being an emotional player, but Draymond’s been preparing me for this moment for the last several years. So we’re good.

Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist.