That’s when news broke on my radio, saying the Sacramento Kings have traded DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans. I have met so many wonderful people, many of whom went out of their way to make me feel right at home from day one. On Monday, Kings GM Vlade Divac may have made things worse as he revealed that a “better deal” was in front of him before he said yes to the Pelicans.
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“I think we can wreak havoc on this league”, says Cousins.
Cousins talked to the Sacramento media before boarding the New Orleans Pelicans owner’s private plane.
“It’s been an emotional roller-coaster”, Cousins said. It’s very unexpected, but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.
Speaking at the press conference alongside Cousins, Casspi said he could be more excited about the opportunity.
“I really love DeMarcus, I think he’s a great kid”, Divac told reporters. Every family in the city matters to me.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, teams were not offering more for Cousins because his agents were telling teams not to trade for him and that he won’t sign an extension with any team that did trade for him.
Pelicans general manager Dell Demps previous’ attempts to provide Davis a requisite supporting cast has been under increasing scrutiny as losses have mounted – New Orleans is 23-34, 2 + games out of the final playoff spot in the West with 25 games left.
The beauty of partnering Davis and Cousins together is the fact that they are two completely different players offensively.
The crowd was charged up for both Cousins’ debut and Davis’ resumption of a sensational season following his record 52-point performance on Sunday. Cousins would be the fire.
If Cousins doesn’t warrant at least two first-round picks, Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez might not even be worth one. He is known for having a short fuse and racking up technical fouls. His next tech will trigger a one-game suspension. Mostly because the Kings gave away the No. 1 big man in the sport for an unproven rookie, a veteran swingman with little upside (Tyreke Evans) and future draft picks that could barely amount to anything.
The critics have said that the Kings weren’t going anywhere anyway, so it was time for a shakeup.
Reserve Lou Williams hit seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points in his Rockets debut after a trade from the Lakers, and Houston crushed New Orleans, 129-99. “We are all committed to building a team that will continue to make Sacramento proud”. “That may not be the case but we don’t have a whole lot of margin of error right now”.
The Kings shipped Cousins and forward Omri Casspi to New Orleans.
Davis and Cousins are the only two players in the National Basketball Association to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds over the past four seasons.
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The surprise deal went down while the All-Star Game in New Orleans was playing out on February 19, according to ESPN. Just 3½ games separate the Nuggets, who hold that eighth and final spot, and the Timberwolves, who are now 13th in the Western Conference pecking order.
