The surging New Orleans Pelicans will have a major question to answer this summer: Do they bring back superstar center DeMarcus Cousins?
Boogie, who is recovering from a torn achilles, will hit unrestricted free agency and naturally demand a big contract. But according to ESPN‘s Zach Lowe, it might not be AS big as you’d think:
Only a half-dozen or so teams have max-level space this season, and most won’t pursue Cousins at that level, sources say. He doesn’t make sense for rebuilding teams. Even bad teams hungry for a big jump in wins next season — say, the Suns — can’t be confident Cousins will be ready to produce at his usual All-Star level until 2019-20, anyway. (Still: Never underestimate Robert Sarver’s July 1 exuberance in the name of short-term gain.) Some teams are afraid of his baggage.
Lowe suggests there may be only two suitors for Cousins – The Mavericks and the Lakers -, which would give New Orleans leverage in negotiations:
The Pelicans have broached internally the idea of offering Cousins a two- or three-year deal at less than the max, per sources familiar with the discussions. I would not expect that to go over well with Cousins’ camp. But the Pelicans have the dual leverage of winning without Cousins and a tepid market for him.
Before suffering his injury in late January, Cousins was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game.
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