Shame Cousins isn't healthy. The Pelicans actually played better without him but I don't think his presence would hurt them, necessarily. The Pelicans went 27-21 with Cousins and 21-13 after his injury. They did add Mirotic, who is averaging 14.6 and 8.6 rpg with the Pelicans, but Davis has stepped up without Cousins there and has played more Center. The Pelicans have to be thinking twice about paying Cousins for a few reasons. His injury isn't one players return to 100% quickly, if at all. There is no guarantee he'll be the same player and Davis has been better without him. Mirotic and Davis has been a better frontcourt pairing than Davis and Cousins. If they pay Cousins big money they won't be able to afford adding a quality wing, which they need to be true contenders. Rondo and Holiday have been a good backcourt pairing, with Holiday playing better as a SG than a PG.
Looking at how Davis alone played this season with and without Cousins is interesting. He put up MVP numbers without Cousins, averaging 30.2 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.0 steals, and 3.2 blocks. With Cousins, Davis averaged 26.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 steals, and 2 blocks. Davis led the league in total blocks and blocks per game, with 2nd place going to Capela who averaged 1.9 blocks per game. So Davis had that locked up with or without Cousins. Cousins only averaged 1.6 blocks a game and Davis almost covered that on his own once DeMarcus went down. I couldn't find the stats on how much he played at each position but but he did play Center much more once Cousins went down and his overall stats show he was more productive without Cousins. They won't be able to let Cousins walk in free agency without Davis being upset but they can't afford to pay him max money like he was almost guaranteed before his injury.
