DeMarcus Cousins traded to Pelicans

Was anyone winning championships like the Warriors before they won a title?

(Nope, this is a copycat league, and things change)

How about Memphis over the last decade?
How about the Clippers? JJ and who?
Again, Spurs had Bruce Bowen and Stephen Jackson. Certainly not "star caliber".
Mid-80s Rockets.
2001 Detroit Pistons had Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince going up against Kobe/McGrady/Lebron. They were role players that fit their system like a glove, which is what Davis and Cousins need more of. They need a better system and better system players. You do not need "star caliber wing play" to win in this league. There are several ways to win.

 

i hope you realize wing play includes the pg, sg, sf positions. Memphis has had conley and he absolutely is star caliber. it's just unfortunate the pg position has been so deep. the stars on many of your other examples are already well known.

good luck to you so long as davis and cousins don't grab anyone on the perimeter

 

In my opinion the Pelicans could be something of a super Memphis with Cousins and AD.

Could a hypothetical team of this sort contend?

Head coach: Jeff Van Gundy or Rick Adelman

1. George Hill
2. Kyle Korver
3. Shane Battier
4. Anthony Davis
5. Demarcus Cousins

6. Louis Williams
7. Luis Scola
8. Mario Elie

You bet your ass they could. And they do not have one "star caliber wing" on the roster.

 

Traditionally, wing play does not involve the PG, as the PG runs the pipe, not the wing.

 

well there you go. the league has not been traditional for years. the league has become position less for quite some time now.

 

If the league is position-less, then why are you saying you need "star wing play". You are the one that initiated that closed minded line of thinking. Hypocrisy...

The game is very similar to how the game was played in the early 70s, with PGs controlling action and breaking down defense from the top of the key. Not sure why you are holding on to this "PG play counts as wing play" nonsense. The positions are entirely different, and the players are asked to do entirely different things. Go ask a wing to play PG and the vast majority of them will balk at all the added responsibilities. "You need star wing play! But that can be a PG too, BUT NOT A PF! Oh no, a PF CAN'T do that!"

But hey, anyone reading this will see right through your inaccuracies, so no worries.

You need to make a choice. Either the game is position-less and you don't need a "star wing", Or the game is still positional, in which case wings and point guards are entirely different. Either way you are caught in your own doo doo, dude.

 

Davis and Cousins can totally win a ring, but they need better role players around them. The thing is I don't know if Cousins will want to stay long enough for Pelicans to get the players they need, he's had enough of losing and NO seems just as bad if not worse than Sacramento.
Russell, Ingram, Paul George, Randle and the likely top 2 pick in this year's draft, does Cousins say no?

 

So i guess you fail to understand the meaning of position less and how it goes along with wing play. Wing play like I said would include pg, sg, sf all guys that play primarily where? if you can answer that then you might finally get it. Position less meaning it includes all of them because again where do all of these guys play primarily. The actual tag is meaningless. I only used the traditional names because you obviously are lost and still fixated on the traditional lineup bs.

I'll gladly revisit this so long as Cousins/AD are together while you keep believing they don't need at least a star wing player to win.

 

SG and SFs, and even PFs are primarily on the WING. They run the WING on every fast break.

Point guards, with a few exceptions, DO NOT.

When you say "star caliber wing play", you are referring to the wing. Where the PG generally ISN'T LOCATED.

Tell me why this statement doesn't make sense?

"We need to go pick up Chris Paul to improve our wing play"

Getting it yet?

Now If you said,

"We need to go pick up Julius Erving to improve our wing play"

Awwwwwww wonderful!!!

 

again position less. still fixated on this traditional tag I see. once you let that go you would probably have a better chance of understanding. Yes pg's are found playing on the wings. pg's are found playing in all areas of the perimeter including the wing.

 

Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins are found on the wings too... If you want to look at it like that.

So there you have it, star caliber wing play as defined by you.

I'm going to help you out. You meant to say a "star caliber perimeter player", as opposed to a "star caliber wing". Two entirely different things.

You are welcome, now go contribute to the tip jar for once.

 

in terms of being position less it's essentially the same to me. Just bc you are still fixed on the traditional names doesn't change that.

 

Why would someone be fixated that you need star playmaking on the wing, as opposed to the top of the key? Baffling... James Harden does nearly all his work from the top of the key, to inside the paint. Basically zilch from the corners, nor the wing.

 

I am not talking about hypotheticals, I am talking about a proven track record.

I don't expect Davis to win a title with the team around him........ I do expect to not average 34 wins and have zero playoff wins in 5 years.

Davis is still a fantastic player, but he hasn't shown the ability to win in the NBA or make his teammates better thus far.

Cousins and Davis may very well prove to be a fantastic duo; my point was thus far the Pelicans have not done much.

 

"They have won 6 of their last 8, losing only to the Rockets and the Heat, with top 10 rankings on both sides of the ball."

This is certainly going to take some time, and it may very well fail. It's a coaching challenge for sure.

But count me in as someone that thinks it is definitely possible to build a very good team around these two guys.

 

They likely can win, but they are going to need someone that can break down the defense from the outside, ideally an all star caliber player.

Having good three point shooters at two of the perimeter positions will help too.

I don't think anyone thinks the Pelicans cannot become good, but they need improved perimeter play and Davis and Cousins need to figure it out defensively inside.

 

They definitely make the NBA more interesting because of the strange mixing of skills, and the twin tower dynamic.

Last 8 games they are ranking in the top 10 on offense and defense. It will be interesting to see how they finish.

 

Now that the lottery is over, here is what the Kings got by trading Cousins:

1. Buddy Hield, who finished the season very strong.
2. The Pelicans 1st round pick at #10
3. Guaranteed they'd suck, which allowed them to keep their pick. In fact where they were, they'd have lost it. Instead they moved up, then made it into the top 3, though had to then switch with the 76ers, which puts them at #5.

Though to be fair, they could have just made Cousins not play or found other ways to tank to try and keep their pick, but the lotto went basically as well as it possibly could have for them.

I'm not saying Vlade deserves a raise or anything, but he ended up with a decent return.

 

they also got rid of all the headache and nonsense that comes with Cousins

the trade was good for them

 

not bad at all. good stuff