After this weekend’s action, the New Orleans Pelicans are 3-6 since trading for DeMarcus Cousins. Their playoff hopes are basically dashed — New Orleans had only a narrow margin for error when they made the deal, and nine games of mediocrity puts them too far out of the race.
DeMarcus Cousins is a paradox wrapped inside a riddle
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Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
What’s especially unsettling is the nature of those three wins. One came in a game in which Cousins was suspended due to an overabundance of technical fouls. A second came in a game in which Cousins fouled out. And the third, on Saturday, happened as Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry benched Cousins (who had five fouls) for the final 10 minutes of the game. That let Anthony Davis cook, and led to a Pelicans win. Tim Cato breaks it down here.
Plenty of Cousins skeptics are using New Orleans’ struggles as vindication for their judgment of Boogie. But then how do you explain the Kings’ eight-game losing streak? Sacramento has been incapable of scoring against tough defenses late after having won a respectable number of comebacks before trading Cousins.
Fit is the answer: New Orleans will need more time than many of us believed to find out how to play Davis and Cousins together. In the interim, staggering them as much as possible seems like the best plan. The point now is no longer making the postseason, but working out as many kinks as possible, seeing who fits with the big duo, and — well, let’s be honest — preventing the Kings from getting two high picks in the draft.
Right now, Sacramento is on track to pick Nos. 6 and 7. If the Pelicans flail, that makes the trade look a bit more fair.
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CHI 80, BOS 100
NYK 112, BKN 120
MIA 98, IND 102
POR 110, PHX 101
CLE 112, HOU 117
PHI 118, LAL 116
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