DeMarcus Cousins grabbed an offensive rebound, finished through contact and went to the free throw line for the traditional 3-point play. The All-Star center was looking to put the Pelicans ahead of the Rockets by five points with only 15 seconds remaining in regulation Friday night at Smoothie King Center.
Cousins' free throw attempt was long, but he chased it down in an effort to regain possession and kill what was left of the clock. Suddenly, Cousins was unable to put any weight on his left leg, and watching the game live, the initial fear was there: a dreaded Achilles injury.
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Tell me Boogie did NOT just tear his achilles pic.twitter.com/Qf4daV3M0P
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 27, 2018
Two of Cousins' teammates carried him off the floor, and shortly after the game the bad news came. Cousins had suffered a season-ending left Achilles tear, an injury with far-reaching impact on not only the big man himself, but also the future of the franchise.
With Cousins out for the next six to 10 months, here are three big questions worth exploring — but unlikely to be answered for quite some time:
How does this affect DeMarcus Cousins?
First of all, this injury is a giant bummer for Cousins. He was putting the finishing touches on his second triple-double (15 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) of the past three games after a monster line against the Bulls on Monday (44 points, 23 rebounds, 10 assists). He was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists while shooting 47 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3-point range.
This season marked a fourth consecutive appearance on the All-Star team, but more importantly, it looked as though Cousins would finally reach the playoffs for the first time in his career after struggling through six-plus ugly seasons in Sacramento. With the frequent (and often fair) criticisms of Cousins' effort and attitude, it feels cruel he was injured on a hustle play, in a win, against one of the Western Conference's top teams.
Achilles injuries can severely reduce the effectiveness of previously productive players, as we saw most prominently with Kobe Bryant. It's not as though Cousins at 70 or 80 percent suddenly becomes a bench guy, but there's no guarantee he returns as the "Boogie" we've all come to know.
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As for the long-term outlook, this could seriously affect how the Pelicans approach contract negotiations with Cousins this offseason. Prior to the injury, New Orleans was expected to hand Cousins a five-year, $175 million contract when he became a free agent this summer. There were already questions about giving Cousins that much money with his past issues, so this only makes the situation more complicated.
Teams like the Lakers and Mavericks could be in play for Cousins' services, but are the Pelicans still willing to put that contract on the table when the time comes? Would they put him on the trade block? That leads to ...
How does this affect the Pelicans?
The absence of Cousins does immediate damage to the Pelicans' playoff hopes. New Orleans extended its winning streak to four games by defeating Houston, and the team is 9-3 in the month of January. It will be difficult to sustain that level of success with a sharp decline in scoring, rebounding and playmaking, to say the least. (The frontcourt was already thin with Alexis Ajinca out for the season and Solomon Hill still sidelined with a hamstring injury).
The Pelicans (27-21) are currently sixth in a tight West race, three-and-a-half games behind the third-place Spurs (32-19) and three games ahead of the ninth-place Clippers (24-24). FiveThirtyEight's latest projection gives the Pelicans an 89 percent chance of making the playoffs, but that's not accounting for Cousins' injury, which certainly lowers those odds. Still, New Orleans is looking to reach the postseason, and this loss won't change those plans.
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Despite loss of Cousins for season, the Pelicans plan to remain active in acquiring talent prior to the Feb. 8 trade deadline, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2018
It should be noted the Pelicans will be limited in their ability to make moves ahead of the trade deadline with salary cap restrictions and lack of enticing pieces to send out. The bigger issue moving forward is how the Pelicans approach a potentially lost season. Are general manager Dell Demps and head coach Alvin Gentry on the chopping block if New Orleans falls outside of the top eight? Or does this recent stretch offer enough hope to prevent a teardown of the front office?
Regardless of who holds those titles, there's one question that lingers over everything the Pelicans do ...
How does this affect Anthony Davis?
It's never too soon to worry about what this all means to Davis.
At the very least, Davis is a top-10 league player. The five-time All-Star has been able to keep the Pelicans afloat when on the court, but the team's net rating plummets when he sits (4.9 to minus-5.4), and the damage was catastrophic when both Davis and Cousins went to the bench. If Davis manages to push the Pelicans to the playoffs, he will deserve MVP consideration, but he'll also have a tremendous burden on his shoulders, both offensively and defensively.
In terms of the future, the Pelicans simply can't afford to lose Davis, especially in a small market like New Orleans. He's under contract through 2021, but can opt out in the summer of 2020, so any organizational decisions should be made with him in mind.
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If the Pelicans let Cousins walk this offseason, they would have to rebuild around Davis to prove they aren't going to waste his prime years. If they re-sign Cousins and he sees a dropoff in production, there's still a possibility Davis considers his options outside of New Orleans in search of a realistic chance at competing for a title.
"I don't see anyone winning without three or four All-Stars," Davis told ESPN in December. "I was in the (MVP) conversation in my third year, and we didn't win. We went to the playoffs, got swept and I dropped out of all that so fast. It's about winning. You can have all the numbers in the world, but you better win. That's what it is.
"This whole league, everything is about winning. Every award. Everything. It's all about winning."
The Pelicans remain in the middle of a playoff race, so these conversations are likely on the backburner for now as Demps figures out the best course of action in the immediate aftermath of this injury. But a dark cloud has floated over a promising season in New Orleans, and how the Pelicans handle this major setback will have ramifications well beyond 2018.
