Shutterstock
LOL.
We don’t know if this is the exact moment DeMarcus Cousins learned he’d been traded from the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans, but it’s pretty funny nonetheless. Cousins, the centerpiece of the biggest deal this season, was talking to the media after last night’s All-Star Game right when news began to break that he was on his way out. Kings beat reporter Manny Vieites claims this video features Cousins learning of the deal from a team handler. Check it out and make up your own mind.
https://twitter.com/manny_vieites/status/833546633715576835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
That side eye look, the squinted eyes, the slight head nod of acknowledgment, it all adds up. Plus, that glance he gives the handler when he says he “loves New Orleans.” It is very likely that this is the moment he learned of the deal.
For those of you that have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, Cousins (along with Omri Casspi) was traded to the Pelicans in return for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 first-round pick and a 2017 second-rounder. The deal, which has been criticized for its lopsidedness, comes just two weeks after the Kings publicly said that Cousins was off the market. We all knew Sacramento was a clown organization, but yeesh.
In Cousins’ seven seasons with the the team, the Kings put together a whopping .353 winning percentage, with no finishes above .500 and no playoff appearances. Cousins is just one of three players in the NBA this season averaging at least 25 points and 10 rebounds per game. The others are Russell Westbrook and… Cousins’ new teammate Anthony Davis. The talented but mercurial big man has one year left on his deal but is eligible to sign a max extension with the Pellies this summer for five years and $180 million.
