Reports: DeMarcus Cousins traded to New Orleans

There have been rumors for weeks now starting that the Kings have been shopping around DeMarcus Cousins, and last night reports started to surface that Sacramento had reached a deal to send Boogie to New Orleans for an unknown combination of players and picks.

All seeing NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski was first on the scene (as usual) with the breaking news:

Throughout last night there were differing reports on the package Scramento is to receive for Cousins. Mark Stein is reporting that the Kings will be getting back some combination of Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick and a 2017 second-round pick.

The Kings were previously in talks with a number of different teams, with reports that they had at one time considered going after Andre Dummond for the Pistons, Jahlil Okafor from the 76ers and a combination of players from the Lakers before making this deal with the Pelicans.

This deal is a clear sign that the Kings are in complete tank mode. Cousins is a top-20 player in the league, but Sacramento had been unable to surround the hot-tempered big man with enough talent to ever make a playoff run in the Western Conference. Losing their All-Star will no-doubt ensure that Kings will be in the lottery — which benefits them because the Bulls get their first-round pick if it falls out of the top ten — and with the two picks they are reported to be picking up in this trade, they have the tools to start rebuilding quickly.

That all being said, this will be a huge blow for Kings fans. To lose one of the best players at his position for what basically amounts to a couple below-average players and mid-first round pick is not nearly equal compensation. Buddy Hield may have been the sixth pick in this years draft, but he is currently shooting under 40% from the field, and at the age of 23 is not as much of a prospect as other players from his class.

Just last week Cousin’s told ESPN that Sacramento was “home.” and that he was “loyal to the city.” Vlade Divac who is the Kings acting general manager has gone on record as recently as Feb. 6 saying, “We’re not trading DeMarcus… we hope he’s here for a long time.” Now here we are on Feb. 20 with Boogie packing his stuff up for New Orleans.

The details of the trade have not been finalized as of this writing, but from what has been reported we can start to put together what this new-look Pelicans team will be. The combination of Cousins and Davis makes for the best big-man duo this league has seen since Robinson and Duncan brought home a title for the Spurs in ’98. The two make for a nightmare matchup for any team, and if they can get into the playoffs could make for an extremely interesting first round matchup with the Golden State Warriors.

Before New Orleans fans get too excited though, it should be noted that Cousins is not the easiest player to play with. There’s a price to pay for the 28 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists that Boogie brings on a nightly basis, and that is a career’s worth of baggage. DeMarcus is already has had to serve a suspension for getting over the technical foul limit that the league imposes. He has been known to lash out at fans and the media alike and there are times when the All-Star looks as if his head isn’t in a game. There’s no doubt that the Kings thought of this trade as a culture move as much as a chance to rebuild their roster. The question has to be asked: how much of Cousins’ on-court issues were due to playing on a losing team, and will that change in New Orleans.

There will be issues with having Davis and Cousins on the court at the same time. They both need the ball in their hands to maximize their talents. Both Cousins and Davis are in the top six players in the NBA in usage rate. Davis is skilled enough to play more in the high post, which will help to unclog the lane a little, but with their lack of talent in the backcourt defenses will load up in the lane and make difficult on the new twin towers. I wonder how many more threes Davis will shoot in the second half of the season as an adjustment to playing with Boogie?

This deal looks like a no-brainer from the Pelican’s perspective. They bring in one of the best players in the league and instantly make their team better in the short-term with the hope of simultaneously keeping their All-NBA talent happy in the long term. But this deal far from a sure fire success. If things do go poorly Boogie could simply walk away from New Orleans in 2018, leaving the team down valuable trade picks, and worse off than they were before the deal.

I can see why this deal was made from the perspective of both franchises. If some of the reports are true about what other teams were offering for Cousins, then it would seem like the Kings did not get full value for their All-Star, and that’s a shame, but Sacramento was not getting any closer to a title Boogie on their roster.

The Pelicans were desperate to add any kind of talent to their roster to help ease the burden on Anthony Davis, and they have certainly accomplished what they set out to do. Their work is not finished, they will have to find a way to move some of the other bigs on their roster, and in a perfect world get some quality shooters in return. There are no guarantees in the NBA, but it’s nice to see that New Orleans was willing to take a risk in order to get their franchise out of mediocrity and try to take advantage of Anthony Davis’s talent while he is at the peak of his powers.