DeMarcus Cousins Traded To New Orleans In Huge Five Player Deal, Draft Picks

Has DeMarcus Cousins been traded? In what would be stunning news if true, the Sacramento Kings have quite possibly thrown their team in a totally different direction by trading Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans. The move comes just a week or two after the Kings were so tired of hearing offers for the big man that they went public with other NBA teams proclaiming Cousins off the market and that they were not planning on trading their best player.

ESPN is reporting that a deal to trade Cousins to New Orleans took place Sunday evening while the All-Star Game in New Orleans was going on. While NBA fans were watching the highest-scoring All-Star game in league history, Sacramento and New Orleans were working out the details that would complete the deal that reportedly will go down this way.

Sacramento will send Cousins and Omri Casspi to the Pelicans in exchange for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and a 2017 first-round pick as well as a 2017 second-rounder. The first-round pick that Sacramento will acquire in this deal could be a top four or five selection.

This deal looks like a good move for both teams, but the jury is still out on who is the winner of this blockbuster trade. It didn’t take long for Twitter to chime in on the trade as fans and players alike expressed their early thoughts on the deal.

Cousins former teammate Anthony Tolliver chimed in right away on Twitter, reminding everyone that sports is not just a game anymore, but is actually more of a business.

People forget that this is a business first…we gotta keep pushin tho! #SacramentoProud

— Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) February 20, 2017

Cousins reaction to being traded was caught by cameras just after the All-Star game took place last night, and the former Kings star seemed rather pleased about the deal.

While this trade is sending a stream of shock waves through the NBA, it is certainly nothing new that a star player in sports could actually be dealt to a different team. Big names like Amare Stoudemire, Dominique Wilkins, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal have all been dominate in the league – and they all have been traded at one point of their career.

Cousins was unhappy for a long time in Sacramento, and now he will get a fresh start with the Pelicans, and he will get to play alongside rising star Anthony Davis. This duo in itself could make New Orleans a tough out this postseason, that is if they get in. As of today, the Pelicans are currently two and a half games out of the No. 8 seed, but this trade could give them the shot in the arm they needed to make a run at the playoffs.

Cousins is having one of his best years as a pro, and a change of scenery may only make his numbers grow. In his career, Cousins has averaged 21 points and three assists per contest. This season those numbers have jumped to 27.8 points per game and 4.9 assists. So like a fine wine, it seems that Cousins is getting better with time.

When you add those numbers to Anthony Davis’ numbers, things could get interesting down by the bayou.

Davis is also having a career-best season through 53 games as well. He is averaging nearly 28 points per game, which is up nearly six points from his career average.

Sure, the Pelicans had to give up a lot to get Cousins, including rookie Buddy Hield, who was a star at Oklahoma, and he has the potential to become a great player in this league. While many fans in both cities may or may not like this deal, only time will tell which team got the better end of the bargain.

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