Gambo: Possible Cousins to suns

[AzStevenCal]

With Ty Corbin on Watson's staff, we wouldn't have to go far to get the inside info on Cousins. I'm not at all surprised we were only interested in Cousins if he was being given away.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The Suns insider is full of bs, what predictions of his ever came to fruition? He might have called some minor deal but more often than not it is nothing.

Our front office does not leak stuff like this anymore, all of McDonough moves came out of nowhere. And if I believe an insider, I'll go with Woj everytime and Woj says we had no real interest in Cousins.

OK. ok. I am not going to argue about something I know very little about.

 

[AzStevenCal]

OK. ok. I am not going to argue about something I know very little about.

Oh great, if this catches on we'll have to close down the internet.

 

[devilalum]

Oh great, if this catches on we'll have to close down the internet.

I know, isn't that the purpose of ASFN?

...to argue about something we know very little about?

 

[Mainstreet]

It would have been nice to shuffle off Knight in the Cousins trade. If the Suns plan to trade Knight, it will likely have to be a part of another big trade where he can be hidden as filler. The Suns will probably have to sweeten any trade involving him with a draft pick or another player.

 

[sunsfan88]

I'm actually with slin on this one. That Suns "insider" on RealGM Ray-Ray just spouts the same obvious things that everyone here knows.

I'm sure his next big insider info will be "Suns are looking to trade Knight" or "Suns are taking offers for PJ Tucker" or something like that.

He has never actually called a trade before it happened. He's said things like "Oh so and so was supposed to be traded for so and so but they pulled the offer at the last minute or Suns decided not to do it, etc".

 

[Ronin]

Clevis MurrayVerified account‏@ClevisMurray
Sacramento Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive: "We want to be like the Spurs, but exciting."

 

[JCSunsfan]

Clevis MurrayVerified account‏@ClevisMurray
Sacramento Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive: "We want to be like the Spurs, but exciting."

 

[elindholm]

Clevis MurrayVerified account‏@ClevisMurray
Sacramento Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive: "We want to be like the Spurs, but exciting."

You can't make this stuff up.

 

[sunsfan88]

Clevis MurrayVerified account‏@ClevisMurray
Sacramento Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive: "We want to be like the Spurs, but exciting."

It's from 3 years ago but yeah still funny.

 

[Hoop Head]

I'm curious what people think of the Cousins trade now that he's been in New Orleans for a little bit and they haven't improved. The hope for them was to make the playoffs this year and Cousins was supposed to be the piece to push them into the 8th spot, where they'd have an interesting matchup with Golden State. it doesn't look like they'll be able to grab that spot though, they're only 2-6 since the trade. Both Davis and Cousins are considered the top players at their position, at least top 2 or 3 at their position, and they're both top 10-15 talent in the whole league so they should be playing 500 basketball. It'll be interesting to see how much patience the Pelicans will have with those 2, if they'll extend Cousins in the off season and if Gentry gets fired. The Suns have played better since the All Star break than the Pelicans and we traded away our best defender and benched our starting Center along with our "6th man".

Things aren't looking good for them though depending where they finish. It'll take time for Davis and Cousins to gel, plus they need to acquire some shooters to put around them. Davis will be 24 next year and Cousins 27 though, so their window should be open for the next 5 years or so, at least, if they can get things to work. I wonder if they'll let Gentry go when the season is over, doing it now would be a bit premature. I think you should let him ride it out. Gentry managed to get Shaq and Stoudemire to play well together here in Phoenix so it's not like he doesn't have experience dealing with 2 dominant bigs in the same system, both played really well with each other and Cousins and Davis are younger, in better health, and have been friends for a while already as well as being former Wildcats.

I wonder if they'd consider trading Cousins rather than extending him though, this offseason. Since they bought so low on him they should be able to trade him and get a few pieces in return, definitely more than they gave up. If they keep Cousins and Davis though and don't start winning you'd think it'd hurt their value though. You can only claim bad luck or other excuses for so long. Davis just got a wrist injury but shouldn't miss much time. Cousins has already gotten more technicals leading to a 1 game suspension and they won the game they played without him. Cousins getting suspended that quick after arriving in New Orleans and knowing they're aiming for the playoffs isn't a good sign overall.

I know it's early to judge but they've played together for 7 of 8 possible games, winning just 2 and 1 of those wins was when Cousins was suspended. The only win they have where both of them play was against the Lakers. Cousins is averaging 22.1 ppg, 13.6 rpg, and 3.7 apg over the last 7 games while shooting 43% from the field on 17 shots a game, 5 of those shots are 3's in which he's shooting 31%. DeMarcus averaged 27.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg, and 4.8 apg with the Kings over 55 games. He averaged 20 shots a game and 45% shooting in Sacramento, so just 3 more than in New Orleans and the same number of 3's but 35%. Anthony Davis's scoring has actually gone up, I image he's doubled a lot less now and he's not always facing the best defensive big anymore. He's averaging 31.3 ppg compared to 27.7 ppg before. Almost all of his other stats are the same. It'll be interesting to see what they do this offseason.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Knicks are wondering why they are not winning but the Pelicans should be asking the same question with a multiplier.

IMO, Gentry is on his way out. Too much talent in New Orleans not to be winning. I fully expected them to make the playoffs.

I wonder if they would put Anthony Davis on the trade market. They would get a huge return plus still have Cousins.

 

[Hoop Head]

Looking back to before this season started and some of the comments about the Knicks are hilarious. I know Derrick Rose said they were a super team in the same vein as the Warriors, Cavs, or the Celtics or Heat when they each had their big 3. The Knicks have to be the biggest disappointment this season. I don't think anyone expected them to compete with the Cavs, Raptors, or Celtics but they should have been a playoff team. I'm glad Cleveland didn't land Carmelo somehow before the deadline. I know Phil wants him gone, Jeff probably does too but that but he holds all the cards and doesn't seem to mind leading an awful team. I'm not sure when his contract expires but I imagine they want him out of there before Porzingas is eligible for an extension because he's their only hope going forward and I'm not sure he'll be eager to stick around with such a poorly constructed team whose "best player" refuses to pass the torch or move on.

 

[Phrazbit]

The Knicks are wondering why they are not winning but the Pelicans should be asking the same question with a multiplier.

IMO, Gentry is on his way out. Too much talent in New Orleans not to be winning. I fully expected them to make the playoffs.

I wonder if they would put Anthony Davis on the trade market. They would get a huge return plus still have Cousins.

I'll pat myself on the back for this one. I just don't see the Davis Cousins thing working. This isn't the 90s, you're not going to win games with 2 behemoths as your best players. The ball in the modern NBA needs to be swinging around the perimeter and cutting lanes, not through post up play. Cousins and David may combine for 60 points a game, but it won't matter because the pelicans as a team can't score at the same rate as these teams slinging the ball all over the place.

But no way they trade Davis unless he demands out, they'd part with Cousins for pennies on the dollar first.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'll pat myself on the back for this one. I just don't see the Davis Cousins thing working. This isn't the 90s, you're not going to win games with 2 behemoths as your best players. The ball in the modern NBA needs to be swinging around the perimeter and cutting lanes, not through post up play. Cousins and David may combine for 60 points a game, but it won't matter because the pelicans as a team can't score at the same rate as these teams slinging the ball all over the place.

But no way they trade Davis unless he demands out, they'd part with Cousins for pennies on the dollar first.

The Pelicans must be kicking themselves for trading for Cousins. I wonder if any team will bail them out.
It's interesting that neither Davis or Cousins were able to carry a team on their own. Then the Pelicans doubled down.

 

[Phrazbit]

The Pelicans must be kicking themselves for trading for Cousins. I wonder if any team will bail them out.
It's interesting that neither Davis or Cousins were able to carry a team on their own. Then the Pelicans doubled down.

The cost to get him was so cheap that I can't really blame them, but yeah, I think they're now in a bind. I expect them to trade him near next season's deadline before he walks in free agency.

 

[Mainstreet]

They cost to get him was so cheap that I can't really blame them, but yeah, I think they're now in a bind. I expect them to trade him near next season's deadline before he walks in free agency.

I'm glad the Suns didn't touch this.

 

[Hoop Head]

Really glad the Suns didn't bite on a Cousins trade. There were a few crazy packages suggested and it would have set us back quite a bit, in terms of talent, cap space, and flexibility. They might be more entertaining but I doubt it. Game day threads have been tough lately because so many people are upset we're winning. I know the wins hurt our draft position but we still got a 2 1/2 game margin between us and the 76ers, I think we can hang onto the 3rd spot.

 

[pokerface]

Really glad the Suns didn't bite on a Cousins trade. There were a few crazy packages suggested and it would have set us back quite a bit, in terms of talent, cap space, and flexibility. They might be more entertaining but I doubt it. Game day threads have been tough lately because so many people are upset we're winning. I know the wins hurt our draft position but we still got a 2 1/2 game margin between us and the 76ers, I think we can hang onto the 3rd spot.

Yeah and we play the Lakers tonight...oops

 

[AzStevenCal]

Really glad the Suns didn't bite on a Cousins trade. There were a few crazy packages suggested and it would have set us back quite a bit, in terms of talent, cap space, and flexibility. They might be more entertaining but I doubt it. Game day threads have been tough lately because so many people are upset we're winning. I know the wins hurt our draft position but we still got a 2 1/2 game margin between us and the 76ers, I think we can hang onto the 3rd spot.

That trade will probably be the end of Gentry and it's already played a major part in the upheaval in Lakers land.

As for the wins, fans want what they want regardless of what the reality is. They know the season is effectively over so they want a loss every night to protect the tank but unfortunately, it rarely works that way. The only way we were going to come anywhere close to losing out is if we moved Bledsoe and failing that, we've always had a number of likely wins remaining on our yet-to-be-played schedule.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I am so glad the Suns did not get Cousins, especially for some of the packages suggested here--even some I suggested. He is a statistical powerhouse, but it does not produce wins. That's something we should consider in the draft this summer. I now do not want anything to do with Cousins, in trade, in free agency, ever, period.

The Pelicans can let him walk in free agency. So they are not sunk long term. They gave up Buddy Hield, which I think they already know will not be a star.

 

[sunsfan88]

The Pelicans must be kicking themselves for trading for Cousins. I wonder if any team will bail them out.
It's interesting that neither Davis or Cousins were able to carry a team on their own. Then the Pelicans doubled down.

They didn't give up much to get a Cousins. Hield is an old rookie and won't be more than a role player at best. And whichever player they can draft in the #10-#14 range wouldn't be better than Cousins.

They can probably trade Cousins in the off season and still get back more than what they actually gave up to get him. The trade was a low risk/high reward type move.

Gentry is also not a very good coach. Plus it's hard to get such a big piece like Cousins integrated into a system without even training camp. When the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol, they couldn't win the title the first year but they won back to back after that. Not saying the Pelicans will have that kind of success but we shouldn't judge them till after they have one training camp together.

 

[Mainstreet]

They didn't give up much to get a Cousins. Hield is an old rookie and won't be more than a role player at best. And whichever player they can draft in the #10-#14 range wouldn't be better than Cousins.

They can probably trade Cousins in the off season and still get back more than what they actually gave up to get him. The trade was a low risk/high reward type move.

Gentry is also not a very good coach. Plus it's hard to get such a big piece like Cousins integrated into a system without even training camp. When the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol, they couldn't win the title the first year but they won back to back after that. Not saying the Pelicans will have that kind of success but we shouldn't judge them till after they have one training camp together.

If one looks at it this way, you may be right. The Pelicans could get more in return than what they traded for Cousins although I would not hold my breath.

I would not minimize the value of that first round draft pick. I expect it to produce a quality player. Also, Hield should be a solid NBA player.

If Cousins does not prove to be a good team player with the Pelicans, his value may not go up in the off season especially because he wants mega dollars on his new contract. Also he has been fined $50,000 dollars for two instances of inappropriate language directed toward fans. This does not help his value either.

It will be interesting to see what his value is this summer.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think the Pelicans need a wing player who is an All-Star or close to it to play alongside Davis. Someone similar to Gordon Hayward, Harrison Barnes or a young Rudy Gay. I'm pretty sure Cousins could bring that back in a trade, there were plenty of suitors for him before the deadline but the Kings owner thinks Buddy Hield will be Steph Curry 2.0. Had Gay not gotten injured I think the Pelicans would have been better off acquiring him over Cousins.

Maybe they roll the dice and hope things turn around this offseason when they can try to bring in some shooters to surround Davis and Cousins with. They'll need an experienced coach if they let Gentry go, which I think they'll do. I can't imagine there are many veteran head coaches out there who are eager to coach Cousins though, who is on his 7th or 8th NBA coach so far. Unless they get him to sign an extension this offseason though I can't see him bringing back that much at the deadline. They'd do better this offseason in a trade and let the new team try to extend him. They should have been the facilitator to move Cousins rather than his destination because his value will go down being traded again so soon with everyone knowing what it cost them to acquire him.

 

[sunsfan88]

If one looks at it this way, you may be right. The Pelicans could get more in return than what they traded for Cousins although I would not hold my breath.

I would not minimize the value of that first round draft pick. I expect it to produce a quality player. Also, Hield should be a solid NBA player.

If Cousins does not prove to be a good team player with the Pelicans, his value may not go up in the off season especially because he wants mega dollars on his new contract. Also he has been fined $50,000 dollars for two instances of inappropriate language directed toward fans. This does not help his value either.

It will be interesting to see what his value is this summer.

Yeah it may but Cousins is so much more than just a quality player.

I think they need the right coach. Alvin Gentry is an awful coach and has been for a long time. His one decent season was a result of him adopting D'Antoni's coaching style and the Suns went on a run after. He looked good only because of how bad Porter looked before him.

I think it could work but the Pelicans need to get help around Cousins and Davis. Holliday is their next best player and even he is an average at best player. And the rest of the team is a complete joke and wouldn't even make the rosters of the top contending teams in the league.