Cousins to New Orleans

[Valuist]

Davis and Cousins on the same team? That should present some matchup problems for some teams. Certainly two of the top big men in the NBA.

[Robert Fischer]

Cousins shoots about five threes a game, and hit's about 35%.

Could work very well in tandem without clogging the paint.


Maybe one perimeter All-Star away from a deep playoff team?

[barahona44]

The Pelicans didn't give up very much.Boogie can be a real PITA when he wants to be but other than accumulating enough technical fouls to reach the limit (he now has to serve a suspension every second time he gets a T), haven't heard that much negative about him this year.

[Jess Hawsen Arown]

Looks like the Kings just wanted him out.

[Valuist]

Rather than take up another thread for the NBA, I will sum up my feelings on the NBA All-Star game in two words: pure garbage.

What an embarrassing product they put out Sunday night. Nauseating.

[FakeNameChanged]

Rather than take up another thread for the NBA, I will sum up my feelings on the NBA All-Star game in two words: pure garbage.

What an embarrassing product they put out Sunday night. Nauseating.
I actually played the All-Star game in the background Sunday night while reading EMD's ROI thread. EMD's thread was better.

[Inner Dirt]

Rather than take up another thread for the NBA, I will sum up my feelings on the NBA All-Star game in two words: pure garbage.

What an embarrassing product they put out Sunday night. Nauseating.

I haven't watched it in years. How did they score 374 points? I understand they don't play defense, but give me a break.

[Valuist]

I haven't watched it in years. How did they score 374 points? I understand they don't play defense, but give me a break.

I watched about two minutes. To see guys standing around flat footed, completely immobile, watching the opponent showboat for an easy score, was too much to watch. Yes, it was never playoff level defense. But in the past few years, it has gone beyond joke level. I don't know who could be entertained by that. Absolutely nothing positive about that game. Do away with it.

[Robert Fischer]

Cousins is the best center that I've seen this year.
He's a man among boys. Usually the best player on the floor for either team.

Getting the most out of their games could be challenging, initially. Both players are used to getting 20 shots a game. Cousins really dominates the ball at times. He can dribble the ball up the court (which could be a big asset with Davis running the floor as a pass option), but he also can hold the ball a bit long on certain possessions. Cousins also had almost complete freedom with the terrible Kings, - where he could shoot every 3 he wanted, and was free to show off his 'guard skills' whenever he wanted. The more structure that is introduced, the more questions arise.

Fortunately, Davis is a super-efficient player, and both guys have certain skills that transcend the post position. Both players also have good natural instincts, and understand how to position and space themselves.
Jrue Holiday is an above average perimeter player. Some coaches would have Holiday shoot even more 3 pointers, as well as he's been hitting them this year.

I am hesitant to say that a 'Loser' like the Pelicans has the supporting cast and coaching, and culture in place to turn into a winner overnight. Will be very interesting. 1st game is Thursday vs Houston. Will be a tough matchup, and possible a good gauge of where they are at.

[cj]

One of my biggest rules when looking at players is this...beware the best player on a bad team. Obviously Cousins is very talented but word around the league is ex-teammates can't stand the guy. He isn't just a headcase on the floor but also in the locker room. It will be interesting to see what New Orleans puts around these guys. Right now they are auditioning D-League guys and washed up players to fill in the 1-2-3 spots.

[Valuist]

One of my biggest rules when looking at players is this...beware the best player on a bad team. Obviously Cousins is very talented but word around the league is ex-teammates can't stand the guy. He isn't just a headcase on the floor but also in the locker room. It will be interesting to see what New Orleans puts around these guys. Right now they are auditioning D-League guys and washed up players to fill in the 1-2-3 spots.

Agreed. We've seen a number of examples of this. Kevin Love comes to mind.

I see your Thunder pick up Taj Gibson and McDermott. I like Gibson's game. Very high energy and will contribute on both ends. What was your take on Cameron Payne?

[Robert Fischer]

McDermott is mildly interesting as a volume 3pt shooter for the 2nd unit.

Have to find a way to protect him on defense. - He's basically an extremely weak power forward who tries to guard small forwards. He can't guard any type of athlete, and when he plays team defense, he lacks the footspeed to recover.
It seems like he could add value, if limited to matchups that he could defend, and if the team buys-in to featuring him at a decent volume of shots.

Any time a guy can hit around 40% from 3, he's a tempting project in today's NBA. I guess the Bulls gave up on him.

[cj]

Agreed. We've seen a number of examples of this. Kevin Love comes to mind.

I see your Thunder pick up Taj Gibson and McDermott. I like Gibson's game. Very high energy and will contribute on both ends. What was your take on Cameron Payne?

Payne looked really promising last year and was promising. This year he had foot problems similar to those Durant had a few years ago. He opted not to have surgery and to let it heal on its own. He missed a good chunk of the season and came back about a month ago. He has been terrible. He had a really good game against the Cavs on TNT a few weeks ago but the rest of the time...just awful. I guess he still has some promise. He just needs to get that aggressiveness back with the ball that he seems to have lost. I think he'll be OK but if he is your starting point guard you are probably not a good team.



McDermott is mildly interesting as a volume 3pt shooter for the 2nd unit.

Have to find a way to protect him on defense. - He's basically an extremely weak power forward who tries to guard small forwards. He can't guard any type of athlete, and when he plays team defense, he lacks the footspeed to recover.
It seems like he could add value, if limited to matchups that he could defend, and if the team buys-in to featuring him at a decent volume of shots.

Any time a guy can hit around 40% from 3, he's a tempting project in today's NBA. I guess the Bulls gave up on him.

However bad McD's defense may be, it is better than Morrow...and Payne too for that matter though obviously that is a different discussion. If he is a 40% shooter, he'll be 45-50 on this team receiving passes from Russ IMO. The Thunder really needed a guy that can knock down wide open 3s.

[Valuist]

Payne looked really promising last year and was promising. This year he had foot problems similar to those Durant had a few years ago. He opted not to have surgery and to let it heal on its own. He missed a good chunk of the season and came back about a month ago. He has been terrible. He had a really good game against the Cavs on TNT a few weeks ago but the rest of the time...just awful. I guess he still has some promise. He just needs to get that aggressiveness back with the ball that he seems to have lost. I think he'll be OK but if he is your starting point guard you are probably not a good team.





However bad McD's defense may be, it is better than Morrow...and Payne too for that matter though obviously that is a different discussion. If he is a 40% shooter, he'll be 45-50 on this team receiving passes from Russ IMO. The Thunder really needed a guy that can knock down wide open 3s.

McDermott's defense is about the level of a cardboard cutout.

It was interesting when the Bulls played Minnesota. McD was in the game and Tibs immediately knew they could score at will against him. And they did. I haven't seen enough of Morrow to judge his D. McD can definitely light it up on the offensive end.

[cj]

McDermott's defense is about the level of a cardboard cutout.

It was interesting when the Bulls played Minnesota. McD was in the game and Tibs immediately knew they could score at will against him. And they did. I haven't seen enough of Morrow to judge his D. McD can definitely light it up on the offensive end.

Trust me, Morrow isn't that good. McD isn't good on the ball at all, but he at least can play some team D and get out on shooters. Morrow plays like he is stuck in quicksand.

I haven't followed much since the trade. How is Payne playing?

[Valuist]

Trust me, Morrow isn't that good. McD isn't good on the ball at all, but he at least can play some team D and get out on shooters. Morrow plays like he is stuck in quicksand.

I haven't followed much since the trade. How is Payne playing?

Last night's game vs the Warriors was the first Bulls game I've seen since the trade. I see he's played a total of 42 minutes in 3 games, so his impact hasn't been big either way.