SPORT NERD
Twin Towers in NO... A challenger?
Just before the trade deadline, the Sacramento Kings traded DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, 2017 top 3 protected 1st round pick and 2017 Philadelphia's 2nd round pick. But what this means for both teams?
For Sacramento, it's a new beginning. They trade away a superstar who couldn't lead the team to playoffs. In return they got some youngsters and pick. While this is a horrible trade in terms of value, I get why the Kings did it. They were sure Cousins would not resign to Sacramento in 2018, so they traded him while they got some value for him. Kings will try to tank for the rest of the season and try to get their new superstar in next years draft.
For New Orleans, it's a great trade. They get a young superstar without giving up any big pieces. Anthony Davis gets his help and running mate for years to come, if Cousins resigns with the Pelicans in 2018. And this is where we get to the subject: could this team challenge for the championship?
To be honest, no, the team is not deep enough. But I feel like that with the league going to this all-guard style, this Pelicans team can give any team in the league big, big trouble. Let's take a look a potential Warriors-Pelicans matchup that can happen, if the Pelicans get the 8th seed. At the point, it's Steph Curry against Jrue Holiday. Of course the two time MVP is the better player, but Jrue is not a bad point guard. As for shooting guard, the Pelicans don't really have an answer for Klay Thompson, who could play a big role in this potential matchup. Kevin Durant would probably be guarded by Anthony Davis, who is one of the few guys I think could shut out KD. DeMarcus takes Draymond Green, where the two bruisers would have a great matchuo, But the fact is both AD and DMC can switch in the pick&roll. That makes the defense of New Orleans pretty scary. Offensively, their strengths are the Warriors weaknesses. Both can bang in the post and the Warriors don't have two guys who can defend there consistenly. They can both also shoot, so getting open shots out of the post could be possible.
Remember, I'm not saying they will challenge for the championship. They won't. But they will be a tough matchup for anyone they will face in the playoffs.