With the NBA Trade Deadline approaching, the Sacramento Kings made an bold move by trading three-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans.
In the trade, the Pelicans acquired Cousins, along with small forward Omar Casspi, in exchange for rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield, shooting guards Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway, in addition to a 2017 first-round and second-round draft pick.
This acquisition ignites a potentially explosive front court for the Pelicans with Cousins and center Anthony Davis. Cousins is averaging a double-double this season (27.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG) along with 4.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. Davis is averaging a double-double as well (27.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG) in addition to 2.2 assists and 2.5 blocks. Both players have had no difficulty adjusting to the NBA out of the University of Kentucky and their numbers prove that. Now, they will be playing alongside each other in the same starting lineup.
Cousins is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 season. However, due to the new collective bargaining agreement, he would have been able to extend his contract with the Kings by five years after this season. The Kings would have been able to give Cousins a long-term contract that could have paid him above $200 million. Cousins expressed that he wanted to sign that contract, hence why he stated that he wanted to remain in Sacramento.
The Kings seemingly were not interested in offering Cousins a contract of that duration or for that amount of guaranteed money, so they shipped him to New Orleans. Cousins is ineligible to sign a contract extension with the Pelicans similar to the one that he would've been able to sign in California's capital. This is because the Pelicans did not draft Cousins, therefore he is no longer signed to his rookie contract.
"When you make a deal, you want to get the most. Right now was the best time, and it was the best offer we had," Kings GM Vlade Divac said regarding the blockbuster trade.
The Pelicans are most definitely not a lock to re-sign Cousins when the time comes. After the 2018 season, Cousins will become a free agent and presumably sign elsewhere considering that he will allure a lot of interest from NBA teams.
The Kings (24-33) and Pelicans (23-34) currently hold similar records and are both in the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
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