It finally happened. After seven absurd seasons in Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins finally got out, and he escaped to a situation that many didn’t expect him to end up in. February 20th the most talented center in the league was traded to the New Orleans for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and 2017 first and second round draft picks. Hield is the only real “upside” player among these three. Even if the Pelicans don’t drastically improve with the acquisition of Cousins, they will most likely find that the picks don’t turn into much either (especially considering that Cousins and Isaiah Thomas are the only impact players the Kings have managed to draft in the last seven years).
The Pelicans managed to acquire one of the most sought after players in the league for cheap, and in doing so most likely turned around their middling franchise. The knock on the Pelicans since they drafted Anthony Davis is that they have never been able to surround him with the right pieces, and they waffled between having him play center or power forward. Insisting, in the last few seasons, that he be paired with an Omer Asik or Alexis Ajinca for a significant portion of the game. Many argued that this made him less effective. Judging by the fact that the Pelicans played their best with him at Center over the last few years, and with the league going smaller anyway, that the pounding he might take playing center wouldn’t be as significant as it would have 5 years ago.
What’s fascinating about this pairing is that it was never a question of whether Davis could be productive as a power forward, but if you could get a center talented enough to warrant playing him there. Realistically that had never been a possibility; it’s much easier to acquire skilled power forwards than skilled centers. Cousins is the best hypothetical partner for Davis in the front court. He’s bruisingly physical, the center that people were referencing when they would say “Davis is too skinny to match up with.” At the same time, Cousins has range, and the ability to handle the ball on the perimeter, so there’s no need to worry about them sticking up the lane for each other. We legitimately have never seen a front court like this in recent NBA history. It’s terrifying, their skill sets complement each other, and if they’re able to get a competent point guard and some shooters around them they will give every team in the league fits.
The idea that the Pelicans gave up too much to get him is ridiculous,
Cousins is a first team all-NBA center, and they gave up two middling NBA players and an intriguing young talent for him. Considering the Celtics were willing to lay out the war chest for him, they got Boogie on an absolute steal. They still have Jrue Holiday, who, if he can get back to his past form, could be the solid top 15 point guard that they need to run the offense. All the other pieces can be filled in from there. Essentially none of the other Pelicans players need to be protected this offseason, they just need to fill out the roster around those three this coming season and they could be a top four team next year.
Going back to the Celtics, it's unfortunate that they weren’t able to take advantage of this situation. If they were confident that Cousins and Thomas could work together (there was some talk that their relationship is what caused Thomas to be traded away from the Kings originally) , they probably should have gone for it. This is the type of player that the Celts have been “acquiring assets” for, and they missed the chance. They’re already the second or third best team in a conference, so it’s not the end of the world, but Cousins fits what they have. Horford would have fit easily next to him as a power forward, Thomas would have been great as a secondary scorer/closer. Considering how deep they are they most likely could have held onto a good piece of their own core and wouldn’t have needed to piece much together around those three. Time will tell, but if the Celtics can never get over the hump in the East, this could a painful what if for them.
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