NEW ORLEANS—DeMarcus Cousins is on his way out of Sacramento — and right into an all-star frontcourt pairing with Anthony Davis.
The New Orleans Pelicans agreed to acquire Cousins from the Kings on Sunday, the same night the centre was playing in the all-star game in their arena.
The Kings dealt one of the most talented but temperamental big men in the game along with Omri Casspi to New Orleans in exchange for Tyreke Evans, 2016 first-round draft pick Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and first- and second-round draft picks this summer, a person familiar with the situation said.
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The deal pairs the six-foot-11 Cousins, a frontcourt all-star from nearby Mobile, Ala., with the six-foot-11 Davis, who on Sunday night was the all-star game MVP after scoring 52 points, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s 1962 record of 42.
The move also sends a message that the Pelicans are more concerned with making a 25-game push for the playoffs this spring then where they’ll be drafting next off-season.
The deal was still in the works when Cousins spoke with reporters after the all-star game, when he played just two minutes as trade rumours swirled.
He said he was happy with the Kings, but would also be happy playing closer to home and alongside Davis.
“If I’m blessed enough to have a job here, absolutely,” Cousins said. “If that’s what happens.”
New Orleans (23-34) went into the all-star break 2 1/2 games behind Denver for the eighth and final playoff seeding in the Western Conference.
Cousins, like Davis a former collegiate star at Kentucky, is averaging 27.8 points and 10.6 rebounds this season. But he is due to become a free agent in 2018 unless the Pelicans can sign him to an all-star calibre extension. New Orleans will also have to hope Cousins can dial back some of his after-the-whistle intensity and antics. He leads the NBA in technical fouls with 17, putting him one away from another one-game suspension.
While Davis said after the all-star game that he wasn’t aware of an impending trade, he said he admired Cousins as a player.
“He’s a great player, dominant in this league, of course, with all the numbers he puts up,” Davis said. “Of course, DeMarcus is an elite player in this league.”
But the Kings decided to move on without him, having not made the playoffs since taking Cousins with the No. 5 pick in the 2010 draft.
The Kings get a player with a lot of potential in the six-foot-four Hield, although he has been inconsistent during his rookie season out of Oklahoma, where as a senior he was one of the best players in the nation.
Hield is averaging 8.6 points but has been explosive at times, with a season high of 21 points. The sixfoot-six Evans, who can play point guard, shooting guard or small forward, will be entering a second stint in Sacramento, where he was drafted in 2009 and went on to be Rookie of the Year. Galloway has been a solid reserve, providing scoring punch from the perimeter.
The six-foot-nine Casspi has been playing about 19 minutes per game for the Kings this season, averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds.
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