After the NBA All-Star festivities wrapped up on Sunday, news broke that the Sacramento Kings have agreed to trade DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and two draft picks, one a 2017 first round pick and the other a 2017 second round pick. For my Saturday Slam piece, I mentioned five teams to keep an eye on at the trade deadline and the Kings were one of the those teams due to all the DeMarcus Cousins trade rumors. Despite insisting that they weren't looking to trade Cousins, Vlade Divac and company decided that in the end, it was in their best interest to move on from the "Boogie" Cousins era.
For the Pelicans, this is a fantastic move. They have been in need of some sort of blockbuster move to keep Anthony Davis in New Orleans and landing a guy like DeMarcus Cousins definitely qualifies as such a move. Cousins is not even in his prime yet, already averaging 27.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game at just 26 years of age. As for Anthony Davis, he is averaging 27.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game.
Together, Davis and Cousins could form one of the most dangerous front courts the NBA has ever seen, elevating the Pelicans into championship contender status. As far as this season is concerned, the Pelicans are suddenly the favorites to get the #8 spot in the Western Conference and could give the Warriors a good scare in the first round.
In regards to the Kings, I'm having a hard time buying this move. I understand that rebuilding is a necessary process that all teams have to go through at some point. It's just part of the natural cycle of the NBA. But the Kings seem to be hitting the reset button way too prematurely. Right when they move into a new arena that keeps them in Sacramento for good the Kings decide to trade away their franchise player. I understand that DeMarcus Cousins has had his ups and downs, but the man still puts up 27.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Those are hall of fame type of numbers.
If you have a guy who is putting up those kinds of numbers at just 26 years of age, you better have a really good reason to trade him in order to sell me on it. Simply saying you weren't going anywhere with him won't cut it. You better have a good reason and as this trade is constituted, I really can't buy it for the Kings. None of the guys they got back are guys who they can build around for the future and they aren't guaranteed to get a super high draft pick, either. If the Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins because they were convinced that he wouldn't stay in Sacramento, that's fine, but that doesn't mean you trade him for Ring Dings and a Pepsi. If you are going to trade him for Ring Dings and a Pepsi, you might as well keep him for the duration of his contract (through 2018) and see what you can accomplish with him. Maybe you can get better and make things work out.
What the Kings are getting back for Cousins is nothing to write home about. Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evans, and Buddy Hield are solid players, but not anything that you can build around. Buddy Hield is just a rookie so it's possible he becomes something, but I still don't see him becoming an all-star or anything of that nature. The bottom line is the Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins for essentially nothing and what I find to be so stupid about that is that there is no way they can convince me that was the best offer they could have gotten for him. Surely there was some team that could have offered a more promising young talent than Buddy Hield and offered a better overall package.
The bottom line is that the Kings wanted DeMarcus Cousins out of town as soon as possible and while they very well may have good reasons for that, at the very least they have to make sure they get back something good given his high value. As of right now, the Kings just set themselves back at least five years and maybe more. The Kings have gone from possibly making the playoffs for the first time in the DeMarcus Cousins era to heading straight back to the lottery with no definitive plan of as to who next face of the franchise will be. This was a dumb move by the Kings and unless they have something else up their sleeves that I just don't see, they'll regret this move for years to come.
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