DeMarcus Cousins comes to Washington as a fantasy and force

Just 48 hours later, the problem has morphed into two gigantic men instead of one of the league’s most versatile players of all-time.

Sunday night, the Washington Wizards dealt with LeBron James’ expansive ability to affect the game any way he wants. He is a 6-foot-8, pass-first freight train that decodes the floor like a supercomputer. He is also surrounded by shooting threats that provide him extra space to manipulate.

Tuesday, the New Orleans Pelicans come to the District to play the Wizards with a dying duality as their focal point. They decided to trade for rambunctious, enormous and skilled DeMarcus Cousins late last season. That move paired him with Anthony Davis, who, at 6 foot 10 with ball-handling and jump-shooting skills, is among the freakiest of freaks in a league based on these genetic extrapolations that make normal people wonder how these others can exist.

New Orleans’ decision to acquire Cousins rattled the league. For years, the NBA has moved toward spreading out via wing play or smaller pseudo-centers. Cousins, 6 foot 11, 270 pounds, shoots 3-pointers, as does Davis, providing more space than the average big man. Each can handle the ball and work in the post. Both rebound forcefully. Their pairing was a grand experiment for the Pelicans, who are trying to find a way to the surface in the well-armed Western Conference.

The question is if it would work. The verdict to this point: Sort of.

Cousins and Davis are each having potent seasons. Cousins is averaging 26.2 points and 12.2 rebounds. His player-efficiency rating is 23.27 (league average is 15). Despite being a center, Cousins has attempted the ninth-most 3-pointers in the league this season. Davis is playing even better. He is averaging 25.2 points and 10.6 rebounds. His PER is 28.04.

But, the Pelicans arrive with a 15-15 record. They are 9-12 against the Western Conference.
Acquiring the volatile Cousins has made for a dynamic pairing with Davis. Yet, it does not seem to be enough to push New Orleans among the elite out West. Which leaves the question: Will New Orleans trade Cousins?

Cousins’ association with Wizards point guard John Wall — they played together at Kentucky — has made for easy projections about the possibility that Cousins and Wall could one day play together. Both have said that the two have discussed it, though that is not uncommon among the NBA’s super friends.

The idea was simpler before Wall signed a supermax extension to remain in Washington until 2023. If they were to get together, it would have to be in Washington. That would be difficult.

Cousins is in the final season of his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. That means New Orleans could well be prompted to trade him before the NBA’s Feb. 8 trading deadline in order to avoid Cousins leaving for another team without any return. The complication for Washington is that it is beyond the salary cap already and has almost $74 million on the books still for its two centers, Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi. In order to match Cousins’ $18 million contract, the Wizards would have to send Gortat or Mahinmi, plus another contract and certainly a pick or prospect (Kelly Oubre Jr.) in order to entice New Orleans, plus have owner Ted Leonsis continue to absorb a luxury tax hit. Gortat’s contract is more attractive than Mahinmi’s since it is up after next season. Mahinmi’s deal lasts until 2020.

There are multiple issues with that, or any other Washington trade prospect for Cousins, starting with New Orleans’ unlikeliness to accept it. Foremost is Cousins’ pending free agency. Would it be worth trading the reliable Gortat, developing Oubre and another first-round pick for a handful of months from Cousins? Or, in a major dice roll to keep him long-term, use Otto Porter as part of the trade to clear future cap space for Cousins and hope he chooses to sign in Washington, though no prominent free agent has done so in recent years?

Cousins also comes with questions about his personality. He is volatile on the court, something that has earned him a clear reputation around the league. That reputation is not good. However, former New Orleans teammate and current Wizards point guard Tim Frazier said the reputation is off-base.

“He’s got this perception around the league as a negative player and a bad person, which is far from the truth,” Frazier said. “The farthest from the truth. My time in New Orleans [with him] was great. He’s a great leader, talking to each other, he’s a great encourager, and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. That’s why he’s so great, because he plays with so much emotion, so much anger, so much intensity. You kind of think of somebody like [Oklahoma City’s Russell] Westbrook who does the same thing. Westbrook might not be as big or strong as DeMarcus, but he was a great teammate while I was there.”

Gortat knows what he is in for Tuesday night when tangling with Cousins and Davis.

“I ain’t going to lie, it’s going to be a bloodbath, probably,” Gortat said. “It’s going to be a very, very tough matchup for me and [Markieff Morris], for all of our bigs. It’s going to be a challenge. These two are hands down the best in the league. Just got to come up, show up, work for everything. Probably at the end of the day, they will score 20, 30 points. It’s just important that they’re not going to go 10-for-15 … If they are going to go 10-for-30, we good with that. We know they’re going to score 20, probably 30, because that’s what they do.”

Gortat went on to joke that Cousins “hates people” and opposing centers.

“That’s how it is. That’s what makes him also great. Every time when he plays against any center — I have a feeling that every time there’s a white center in front of him, he always hates him, so — that’s just how it is,” Gortat said with a laugh. “It’s just part of the business,”

“I don’t like a lot of centers, either,” Gortat went on, smiling. “The difference is I don’t tell them that. He’s just playing his ass off. He’s great. There’s not [a] secret about it. He’s the best center in the league right now.”

Tuesday, the Wizards get an up-close look.