BY CHRISTIAN CLARK | STAFF WRITER JULY 18, 2020 – 11:47 AM
DeMarcus Cousins is getting a second chance in the Big Easy.
The New Orleans Pelicans finished last season better than expected, but still not where they wanted to be. They ended the regular season on a high note, finishing with a seven game win streak, giving the Pelicans their second 50-win season in the history of the franchise. They had their young core to thank for that.
“These young players came together and defied the odds,” said head coach Alvin Gentry. “Everybody expected them to go through some growing pains and just hope for the best this season.”
Even with the arrival of the #1 draft pick Zion Williamson, the loss of Anthony Davis seemed too big of a role for the 18 year old to fill. The Pelicans’ sleeper pick Morgan Sauce helped to pick up the slack. Sauce was the Pelicans’ leading scorer, averaging 26 points per game, followed by Williamson who averaged 19.1 points per game. That more than covered the gap that was left behind by Davis, who had two seasons where he averaged 28ppg over 75 games.
The front office for the Pelicans decided to double-down on its star talent and sign their third best scorer, Brandon Ingram to a 4-year $115M contract and signed Sauce to a 4-year contract worth $112M.
“This is a huge step up from my first year,” joked Sauce. He signed a 1-year contract worth just over $1.25M. “I really appreciate the Pelicans’ front office. This is my city, ya heard me? I’m a true native son. I gave everything I had last season, so I appreciate my hard work not going unnoticed.”
The Pelicans also made some aggressive moves in free agency signing DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein. Cousins, a familiar face in New Orleans has returned after playing a year in Golden State and another year in Los Angeles where he teamed up with Anthony Davis for the second time. Both teams were on the hunt for a ring and both times he was unsuccessful.
“I was told that I needed to come back and make things right with this city,” said Cousins. He and Cauley-Stein both signed three year deals with the Pels. “I was brought into a good situation by a good organization and the way I left things wasn’t right. So, I’m hoping the city will embrace me again and allow me to make good on what I started three seasons ago.”
The Pelicans were expecting Cousins to be the face of the franchise after trading for him during the All-Star break in 2016. When he went down with an Achilles’ injury, the Pelicans tried to offer him a short term deal, but Cousins refused. He hit free agency and instead signed a 1 year contract with the defending champion Golden State Warriors. If he couldn’t get the money he was after, he could at least get a championship out of the deal. When that didn’t pan out, he moved on the Lakers to team up with LeBron and Davis who seemed poised for a championship. Again, making it to the Finals only to be swept by the Philadelphia 76ers. The next day, Cousins got a text from an unfamiliar number that read: the city won’t let you rest until you make it right.
He called the number back and found out that it was Sauce. He said they talked for a while about what went wrong in New Orleans and what he and Zion and Brandon were trying to do to make it right. He told him they needed him in New Orleans. They were looking to make history and they needed his help to get there. He flew to New Orleans and met with Zion, Brandon, Coach Gentry, General Manager Trajan Langdon, and VP of Operations and Team Development, Swin Cash. They had dinner at Square Root, where the tasting menu is $150 per person and the dining room only holds 16 guests. They laid out their plans and showed him right where he fit in.
“I like the direction that New Orleans is moving in,” said Cousins. “I’m ready to be part of this.”
Cauley-Stein, the 6th overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky, got his phone call from Sauce the morning after the Pelicans were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
“He called me the next morning and was like, come ball with us. I’m tired of being around all these Duke guys. So, I had to oblige and break up the party. Then he brought in my fellow Wildcat, Boogie, and now we’re evening things up a little bit.”
New Orleans knows where they fell short against the Lakers in the playoffs and they are hoping with Cauley-Stein and Cousins, they can even things up. They struggled with Jalil Okafor in the post, getting outmuscled most nights. Rookie Jaxson Hayes started almost every game in the playoffs except two. With these additions to the lineup, Hayes can expect to move to the power forward position more and they can really utilize his length and shot blocking ability on defense.
They won’t have to wait long to see how well this is going to work. Everyone will be looking forward to November 6 when the Pelicans see the Lakers again for the first time since losing Game 4 of the playoffs at the Smoothie King Arena.
How will the Pelicans handle having that much offensive firepower?
“I’m expecting a lot of high scoring games,” said Sauce. “Like NBA 2K high. I’m also expecting my assists numbers to go up. This definitely changes the tempo for us. We like to run the floor and now we can do that with two big men who can start the fast break. People should really tune in.”
Be sure to get your tickets for the home opener against the Charlotte Hornets on October 28.
