Demarcus Cousins goes down with an achilles injury last night which will put him out for the rest of the season. The Pelicans were on pace to make the playoffs and even though a playoff berth is still within reach the Cousins-Davis experiment might have seen the end. Kobe Bryant suffered a similar injury and never came back the same, although Kobe was much older the big question is will Demarcus come back the same player? It’s a huge toss up
re-signing him at this point, we remember what impact the achilles injury did to Derrick Rose so Dell Demps has a lot to think about.
I personally liked the Cousins-Davis since it was something different from what other teams are doing building with 2 superstar bigs a lot like the Spurs did with David and Tim but the Spurs were a title contender with those two the Pelicans are not. Might they surprise us and get to the Western Conference Finals someday? Maybe but they have too much money tied up on Jrue and Anthony to get the necessary perimeter threats to become a force.
Jrue and Anthony can certainly lead the Pelicans to the playoffs, they have done it in the past and got ousted in 4 games by the Warriors 2016 but they definitely stand no chance with Durant-Curry Warriors, the high powered Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets who are dominating the league with Harden and Paul shredding teams apart with their elite playmaking and high octane offense. We can’t forget about the up and coming Timberwolves and of course the Spurs who can’t be counted out possessing a player the caliber of Kawhi Leonard on both ends.
Anthony Davis is still very young so the Pelicans can certainly continue to use him as a rebuilding piece but is he an absolute lock to re-sign 2020? I highly doubt it, he has already stated winning is what makes you remembered in the NBA and he is 100 percent on the money. Who really remembers Dominique Wilkins? Yes he was a dunking god but he never won, not to mention he had all the gaudy stats, or how about Allen Iverson? Remembered for his heart and fearlessness on the court but he never won, or Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing? The list goes on.
The Pelicans can get a good haul for Davis, they could pitch Davis to Boston and get a package of Tatum,Boston’s pick, and Al Horford or they can pitch him to the Cleveland Cavaliers who could offer them the Brooklyn pick and some combination of Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas and their other late first round pick. The list of suitors for Anthony Davis would be astronomical, he could be the piece for teams like the Raptors,Cavaliers,and Celtics to beat the Golden State Warriors.
To conclude a talent the caliber of Anthony Davis is seen once in a blue moon, a scoring machine who can go off for 30 to 60 points on any given night and provide rim protection and a floor spacer all in one package, by the way he can create his own shot. Start lining up the offers.
D-NBA 