13. The Big Easy Bash Brothers
Because nothing good in this world ever lasts, the pairing of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins spanned less than a season-and-a-half. When Boogie went down with a torn Achilles in January, it effectively spelled the end of his tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Rather than re-sign Cousins this summer, the Pelicans took advantage of the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to renounce their rights to Julius Randle. New Orleans swooped in and signed him to a two-year, $17.7 million deal, giving itself a frontcourt pairing of versatile top-10 picks from Kentucky.
Whereas Randle logged a majority of his minutes at power forward during his first few seasons in the NBA, he split time nearly evenly between the 4 and the 5 in L.A. last year. Both he and Davis can thus switch positions interchangeably when they share the court this season, which should make them a nightmare for opposing frontcourts.
“Julius has a lot of respect for A.D., and A.D. has a lot of respect for Julius. Both of them are really unselfish guys,” Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne, who worked with both Davis and Randle in college, told William Guillory of The Athletic. “They are going to torture other big men around the league. I know I can’t wait to see them play together.”
Between Davis, Randle and Nikola Mirotic, the Pelicans figure to have one of the NBA’s most versatile frontcourts. Mirotic’s ability to stretch the floor helped Davis piece together an MVP-caliber second half of the season following Cousins’ injury, but the pairing of Randle and the Brow may be even more fascinating to monitor.