Cousins would give Houston a huge chip to work with, he's very comparable to Lopez and Bynum. If Houston can straighten him out, he's much more talented than those two. Salmons has the same length on his contract that Scola does, but the Rockets would save over $8M even more if they don't pick up the team option in 14-15. He would be a good SF on this team though, much more than Buddinger. 3.4 DWS the last 2 years is damn good.
My point it's not that he is not a good prospect. He is just not as athletic as many think he is. He has weight issues, mental issues, a lot of baggage for a sophomore. You have to take the risk that he might not be the 20-10 player but a 15 - 8 player. His ceiling might be high but not Blake Griffin or Drummond high. Actually Patterson's ceiling was higher than before the draft because he had good outings. There are experts actually believe Double Pat can break out this year or next one. - See previous articles
Head cases rarely work out. Unless they have Phil jackson as a coach. Talent is tempting but personality deserves pause.
See my post below. He comes with a lot of baggage which we will be willing to absorb but at what price?
I wouldn't. I would even take back Salmons and throw Budinger in the mix. Scola + Budinger + 2011 draft, though Morris and Parsons can't be traded until Jan. + Knicks 1st round pick for Salmons + Cousins. Then the lineup would be Lowry, Dragic Martin, Lee Salmons, Williams Hill, Patterson Cousins, Dalembert That's a strong 10.
Athleticism isn't always about speed. Cousins is very, very strong. I really don't see the risk involved if he averaged 15-9 at 20 years old in a terrible system.... Given the time in McHale's system, I can't see how he could be any worse. Patterson may break out, but it would be foolish to assume he could ever have the impact Cousins is capable of. I'm done talking about this.
Thus far Drummond hasn't proven anything in the NBA, which is exactly my point. Thabeet was drafted 2nd overall due to the scarcity of legit NBA bigs. Which falls directly into my point as well.
No problem. The only contracts guaranteed next year are Martin, Scola, Lowry, and Morris for $30M and change. You take trade Scola and amnesty Martin you have removed $21M, but added the $3.8 from Cousins. So you are around $13M to start signing players. If you trade Scola for Cousins and take back Garcia. Then you can amnesty Garcia and still be around the $24M starting range.
Cousins + Kyle + whichever player we get in the lottery = foundation? That assumes we could get Cousins without giving up that pick. I'm sure Sac would demand it, but giving it up would be too much.
We have the assets to get a deal done. They can have any one the want except Lowry. Cousins has superstar talent, he just needs a coaching staff and point guard that is worth a damn.
