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NBA Trade Deadline: Pelicans luck into superstar core with DeMarcus Cousins trade

By Matt Cianfrone

Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) hug after the game at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) hug after the game at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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It wasn’t long ago that the New Orleans Pelicans future was a dark, murky mess that had people trying to figure out ways to steal Anthony Davis. Thanks to a plethora of ill-advised moves from general manager Dell Demps, the Pelicans were locked into a core of Davis, Solomon Hill and Buddy Hield with no assurance that Jrue Holiday — the second best player on the roster — would return beyond this season.

And then the Sacramento Kings happened. Suddenly, the Pelicans have a bright future and the NBA’s best big man combination. All it took to make DeMarcus Cousins a Pelican was Hield, Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evan’s expiring contract, a top three protected first round pick and a second round pick.

For New Orleans, the deal was a no brainier. With Davis on the roster, the odds of the Pelicans landing a second star through the draft was extremely unlikely. As long as Davis was healthy, New Orleans was never going to be bad enough for a top three pick — it’s hard to tank with a player who averages 21.9 points and 10.1 rebounds for their career — meaning they had to get super lucky in a player’s development or with lottery balls. And thanks to bad contracts given out to Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca and Hill, New Orleans was capped out to a point that made signing an impact free agent almost impossible.

Now they don’t have to worry about that.

Listen: Best, worse and wildest NBA trade deadline deals

With one trade New Orleans has done what they always wanted to do: Davis is now paired with another top 10 talent and the Pelicans have a great avenue to bring back Holiday as the third core piece. The final part is key. New Orleans was never really in a position to wait for draft picks to develop. With Davis already working on his contract extension, contention in New Orleans became an expectation in the next few years. While that isn’t a guarantee, New Orleans is closer than they have ever been with Davis on the roster.

Of course nothing is a guarantee for the Pelicans. Based on conversations with people who know the Pelicans better than I do, there’s a possibility Tom Benson won’t pay the luxury tax. Considering the current roster is a tax team once Cousins and Holiday are signed to extensions, that is a problem. But New Orleans at least has ways around that. The simplest is stretching Asik. Trading Ajinca’s deal with a second round pick or two to a team with cap space could also happen. Who knows, maybe Hill gets dumped down the line as well.

Either way, New Orleans isn’t done dealing going forward but they have done the hard part by adding another star to the roster. Demps deserves a ton of credit for that. As long as they stay healthy, it is hard to see the Pelicans not making the playoffs as the No. 8 seed this season.

As for the Kings, holding out for more would’ve been the best move with the trade deadline still being a few days away. Even if nothing did arise, the offer from New Orleans would have still been on the table, but Sacramento was obviously ready to move on from Cousins and didn’t want him to return following All-Star Weekend. Otherwise it makes no sense to not wait longer in hopes a better deal presented itself.

That better deal also leads to questions about the Boston Celtics. If this was all it took to land Cousins, how did Boston not get involved? If it was an attitude issue or concerns about the relationship between Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, fine. But for such a cheap price, it was worth taking the risk. Boston clearly could have put together a slightly better deal without including a pick from the Brooklyn Nets. If things didn’t work, they could’ve tried to sign and trade Cousins in the offseason to recoup some value. If it did, Boston has finally landed the superstar they have stockpiled for.

Now Danny Ainge must hope Jimmy Butler or Paul George become available. The problem is, without a second superstar on the market to trade for, Ainge may have lost some leverage in talks for either.

Next: NBA Trade Deadline portfolio: Boston Celtics

Overall, the deal likely means a bit more active of a deadline day on Thursday. With Davis and Cousins now paired up for the rest of the season, other Western Conference teams may be sellers. At least one of the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves should concede the race for the 8th seed and sell off spare parts for more long-term assets.

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