DEMARCUS COUSINS TO PELICANS: TWITTER REACTS TO TRADE INVOLVING BUDDY HIELD
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The New Orleans Pelicans flipped the NBA on its axis late Sunday night when they agreed to a deal for Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal—which was agreed upon shortly after the conclusion of the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans—will reportedly send Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick and 2017 second-round pick to the Kings.
Combine Cousins' stature as a three-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and one of the NBA's most dominant big men with the underwhelming return the Kings received in the blockbuster, and Twitter erupted.
DeMarcus Cousins traded to Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, two picks
After a few years of trade rumors, DeMarcus Cousins has finally been traded.
The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Cousins has been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The early word is that the Sacramento Kings are receiving Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and two draft picks in return. They will receive the Pelicans’ 2017 first-round pick, as well as a 2017 second-round pick the Pelicans had via Philly. Langston Galloway is also part of the deal, but is expected to be waived by the Kings. The Pelicans will also receive Omri Casspi along with Cousins. Casspi being dealt is no surprise as he’s been out of favor with new Kings coach Dave Joerger.
They answered that question quickly, as Durant fed Westbrook for a lob with 4 minutes, 58 seconds left in the first quarter, just a minute after Westbrook checked into the game for the first time.
The league's best lit up the scoreboard in New Orleans when East met West in the 66th NBA All-Star Game. We're handing out grades to every player who hit the court in the Big Easy.
Analysis From the early stages, Steve Kerr and his Western Conference teammates made an effort to win Davis the MVP in front of his home fans. The result: Davis scored 52 points on 23-of-39 shooting, smashing the 55-year-old All-Star record of 42 points set by Wilt Chamberlain the season he averaged better than 50 points per game. Davis threw down an incredible 18 dunks, most of them alley-oops that showcased his leaping ability. When he strayed from the paint, Davis missed all four of his 3-point attempts. But on the first play of the game, Davis served as point guard and hit a jumper over Kyrie Irving after drawing a switch. That set the tone for a historic night.
Analysis Durant's inability to knock down 3-pointers (2-of-8 beyond the arc) was the only blemish on an otherwise impressively versatile stat line. Durant added 10 rebounds and 10 assists to his 21 points for a triple-double. But all anyone will be talking about is the alley-oop he threw former teammate Russell Westbrook as part of a give-and-go.
Analysis The All-Star Game will never be a good format for Leonard's unspectacular style, as his 15-minute stint -- entirely in the first half -- reminded. Leonard did have a steal and a runaway dunk, but that was the only memorable moment of his shift.
Curry had some impressive highlights, throwing a half-court alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan and going off the backboard to MVP Anthony Davis for another dunk in transition. He also threw down a rare dunk of his own. Curry also made five of his 11 3-point attempts, punctuating one of them by twirling around. Still, it was a relatively quiet night for the two-time defending MVP.
Analysis The NBA's second-leading scorer took a surprising backseat in the All-Star Game, handing out as many assists (12, a team high) as he scored points. All nine of Harden's shot attempts came from beyond the arc, of which he made four. Yet Harden's attempts to make the spectacular play also resulted in 10 turnovers, more than all his West teammates combined (seven). And one of his 3s was actually an errant alley-oop pass.
Analysis With trade rumors swirling before he was traded to New Orleans, Cousins got the Jahlil Okafor treatment on the All-Star stage, playing just two minutes early in the game. He made a fairly deep 3 but missed his two other attempts from beyond the arc.
Analysis Gasol took advantage of Cousins and Kawhi Leonard sitting after halftime, starting and finishing the second half at center and playing the most minutes (21) of any West reserve. Gasol was two assists away from joining Durant with a triple-double, including setting up several highlight dunks, and he hit a Dirk Nowitzki-esque fadeaway when Kerr called his number after a late timeout.
Analysis Of all the All-Stars, Green probably saw the least change in his typical role. As usual, Green focused less on scoring -- attempting just two shots in 17 minutes -- and more on setting up his teammates, defending and rebounding. His pass led to Curry's dunk, and a pair of Westbrook dunks were also among Green's six assists.
Though he missed all three of his attempts from downtown, Hayward had a solid All-Star debut, scoring eight points and tying for game-high honors with four steals. Hayward's alley-oop in transition set up one of Davis' dunks.
Analysis Continuing the tradition set by Shaquille O'Neal, Jordan used the All-Star Game as an opportunity to showcase heretofore unseen skills -- 3-pointers in Jordan's case. Alas, his two ugly misses gave little indication Jordan will become a stretch-5 anytime soon. Jordan ought to stay around the basket, where he was a target of alley-oops.
Analysis The Smoothie King Center might not be the best venue for Thompson's shooting stroke. After getting eliminated in the first round of the 3-Point Contest on Saturday, Thompson shot 2-of-6 from downtown in the All-Star Game. (Alternatively, maybe it's just that 3-pointers are especially random.) Thompson did make all three of his attempts inside the arc and handed out five assists.
Analysis (Looks around for Pelicans fans.) (Whispers) OK, look, Davis may have set the scoring record and won MVP, but if we're being honest with ourselves, Westbrook was the best player on the court. It took Davis 32 minutes and 39 shot attempts to score his 52 points. Westbrook scored 41 in 20 minutes on just 26 shots (plus two free-throw attempts). See, he can be efficient! And while Davis was mostly set up by teammates, Westbrook had seven assists.
From the moment he stepped on the court, Westbrook was a ball of kinetic energy, starting with blocking a Kyrie Irving layup attempt. In the second half, he went nuts with pull-up 3s, making three in a 31-second span in the third quarter. So while Westbrook didn't become the first player ever to win three consecutive MVP awards, he does earn my highest grade.
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