New Orleans Pelicans: 5 ripple effects of the DeMarcus Cousins injury
2. Boogie’s contract situation
This kind of injury would be devastating for any 28-year-old superstar, but it’s particularly terrible for a player in the middle of a career year who was in line for a max extension as soon as he hit unrestricted free agency for the first time.
According to The New York Times‘ Marc Stein, the Pelicans were prepared to offer Boogie a five-year max in the $175 million range this summer:
As we covered in a recent @nytimes NBA newsletter, New Orleans has been planning to offer DeMarcus Cousins a five-year max deal in the $175 million range on July 1 and widely expected to re-sign him immediately. The calculus involved obviously just got a lot more complicated ...
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 27, 2018
This potentially career-altering injury throws a wrench in the works. The Pelicans would be crazy or downright neglectful to write off Boogie and assume he’ll never be the same, but that same max may no longer be on the table right away — assuming the same front office is even in place by then.
Remember, this Dell Demps-led group entered the season under a ton of pressure, not only to put a winning product on the table to convince Boogie to re-sign as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but also to reach the playoffs and start making the most of Anthony Davis’ prime.
Though the Brow is locked in for the foreseeable future and love New Orleans, an ESPN report from Adrian Wojnarowski earlier this season sent tremors down the spines of the Pelicans faithful when Davis stressed the importance of winning, voiced his displeasure with being overlooked among the game’s blossoming unicorns and wondered aloud about organizations having their players’ backs. Throw in the tidbit about the Boston Celtics inquiring about AD and it was easy to start sweating a little bit about the future.
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The time for winning is now, and betting on Cousins’ health has now become a risky endeavor. Jrue Holiday’s free agency last summer already backed the Pelicans into spending big money on a player they couldn’t afford to replace on the open market. Boogie’s situation may not be too different, expect it’ll come with a much higher risk/reward attached.
Perhaps this injury gives the current front office an excuse for missing the postseason again. Perhaps it’s the perfect excuse to clean house and install a new regime willing to do what it takes to rid the cap sheet of bad long-term money. Outside of Davis and Holiday, no one feels off limits to get the axe, which was probably the case before Cousins’ injury, but is especially true now.
For Boogie himself, this injury means he may have to accept less money than he would have earned. His number of suitors may have declined too, which could give the Pelicans leverage and help their books in the long run if they’re able to retain him for less than his full (max) value.
July is a long way off, and by that point, everyone will have a better idea of how Boogie’s rehabilitation process is coming along. But Achilles injuries are historically bad news in this sport, and for a 6’11”, 270-pound big who will turn 28 in August and already has so many miles on his NBA odometer, you can be guaranteed this setback will impact his free agency.