Day 182

Fresh Start_182: From “right there” to rock bottom
What now for Sacramento? With the shocking trade following the NBA All-Star game last night, DeMarcus Cousins is now officially a New Orleans Pelican. For Sacramento, you trade away your franchise player, the guy the team has been building around since he was drafted. With all the rumors that Cousins wanted out, then the Kings would sign him to a max extension, to the Kings not trading him, and finally it all ending with the trade that went through last night.

The roller coaster circus show that was Cousins’ time in Sacramento is over, and for Cousins I think this will be good for him. He gets to play with one of the Top 10 players in the league {Anthony Davis} and a smaller media market. Cousins also gets to enjoy a playoff push in New Orleans. Even with the Kings being a game out of the 8th spot in the West, they trade Cousins to the Pelicans who are 11th in the West, 2 games out of a playoff spot. So, if you are Cousins thank your lucky stars that you are out of the dumpster fire that is the Sacramento Kings organization.

This trade proves once again, why Cousins was tweeting his discouraged remarks with the draft picks in the offseason. Cousins is dodging a bullet by getting out of Sacramento on decent terms. For New Orleans, while you traded 5 potential players (two 1st rounders), you have struck a tiny nugget of gold. You have the best front court in the Western Conference if not the entire league. There will be an adjustment period for Cousins and Davis to space the floor properly, but once that happens look out! The Pelicans are in a good position for this to happen, and taking the 2-week headache at the most is worth it for the long run. This team could rid Cousins and Davis all the way to the conference Finals if they making it to the 6th seed. It isn’t ridiculous to think that either. This team has more talent than Oklahoma City and Denver who are in front of them. This will be extremely entertaining to watch.

For Sacramento on the other hand, what do you have? Another rebuild? Are you trying to get the team to Seattle or Louisville? Someone in the organization needs to build a plan for this team moving forward. The Kings haven’t been a relevant franchise in the NBA since the early 2000’s and for many NBA fans, they haven’t seen a good Kings team in their lifetime. After this Cousins trade, the Kings are left with a decent player in Willie Cauley-Stein, a good shooter in Ben McLemore, an under the radar stud in Rudy Gay, and a ton of decent role players—oh and those two 1st rounders from New Orleans. And let me pose this question to Sacramento, was this trade worth it for the organization? For me, what the Kings have done is make themselves a bigger laughing stock then the ‘76ers, but at least Philadelphia had a plan.
Sources:(espn.com, nba.com)

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