New Orleans Pelicans News: Alvin Gentry Makes It Clear On DeMarcus Cousins And They Want Him Back
In the world of professional sports, it is often said that an Achilles injury is one of the worst to come back from and that a player will never be the same after suffering it. Despite rupturing his Achilles tendon back in January, there are numerous NBA teams who are still want to have DeMarcus Cousins on their team when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July. Included among those are the New Orleans Pelicans, and head coach Alvin Gentry wants him back.
There has been a lot of confusion and a number of interesting stories regarding Boogie and whether he will return to New Orleans next season. People have thought that he would definitely go somewhere else and others believed he would certainly return to NOLA, but no-one really knows anything as of yet.
On Monday, Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry was at the Saints Hall of Fame Celebrity Golf Classic at Bayou Oaks along with a number of other sports figures from the city. Of course, he was asked about his team and whether they wanted Cousins back for the next NBA season, according to the Times-Picayune.
“There’s not anyone that does not want him back with our franchise.”
Yes, the Pelicans had a lot of success after Boogie went out due to injury, but his return certainly wouldn’t hurt. Still, there are a number of other teams in the NBA that would love to sign him as well.
“Multiple league sources” expect Mavs to pursue DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan and Julius Randle, reports @KevinOConnorNBA https://t.co/xWLS2lIgJU pic.twitter.com/KUxfvxX0jN
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) May 21, 2018
As reported by SLAM Magazine, the Dallas Mavericks are one of those teams but they have a number of big men in their sights. Not only are the Mavs interested in Cousins, but they also have eyes on DeAndre Jordan and Julius Randle in case their initial plans don’t quite work out.
There are plenty of rumors and a lot of speculation that is connecting DeMarcus Cousins to other teams in free agency. Gentry knows that his injury is something to be concerned about, but he and the Pelicans both know that they’d rather have him playing for them instead of against them.
“The bottom line is that obviously we’d like to have him back on our team. Anyone that thinks you’re better having a guy that averaged (25 points) and 13 (rebounds) not on your team, is really kind of not in tune to what it takes to win in this league. There’s just so many factors that enter into it, but there’s not one single person, player, coach, or in the basketball (operations) department or ownership that doesn’t want him back.”
New Orleans was on a tear with Boogie as they had won eight of their last 10 games before he suffered the injury. After he went out for the rest of the season, they ended up trading for Nikola Mirotic and made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs before being eliminated by the Golden State Warriors.
If DeMarcus Cousins ends up returning to the New Orleans Pelicans next season, they are sincerely hoping that he returns back to the form he had before the injury. The same can be said for any team in the NBA that may pursue him in free agency. Still, Alvin Gentry and the Pelicans are dead set on re-signing him and having him play alongside Anthony Davis for years to come.
