New Orleans Pelicans: 5 ripple effects of the DeMarcus Cousins injury

1. Don’t expect a blow-up

There’s no question this kind of season-altering injury casts a pall over the whole organization — not just for the 2017-18 campaign, but for the long-term future of Davis and company too.

This kind of injury might prompt the Twitter worrywarts to start calling for the New Orleans Pelicans to blow it up. But before we become prisoners of the moment, the appropriate response should be: “How? And why?”

As for the “how,” the Pelicans just signed Holiday to a five-year, $125 million contract last summer. No offense to his 18.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game, but very few teams in this league would be desperate enough for point guard help that they’d take on that kind of contract.

Omer Asik remains one of the worst contracts in the league. Alexis Ajinca was a bad contract before knee surgery sidelined him for 4-6 months. Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore are useful role players, but are also largely overpaid and would be difficult to move on the trade market.

The Pelicans have very few assets to offer in order to get Anthony Davis help. Still, that won’t stop them from trying, according to Woj:

Being aggressive on the trade market to keep playoff hopes alive may seem like a fool’s errand compared to hitting the reset button, but no one should’ve assumed Boogie going down meant the Pelicans would put him, Holiday or Anthony Davis on the trade block.

For starters, AD is under contract through at least 2019-20, with a $27 million player option for 2020-21. He’s not going anywhere until the day he barges into the front office and demands a trade — no matter how many Terry Rozier-led packages Celtics fans feverishly conjure up on the NBA Trade Machine.

Holiday’s contract will be impossible to move, and that Cousins-Davis-Holiday trio has clearly proven it can win games together. It’s horrible to see their season unravel right when everything was coming together, but a 6-10 month setback doesn’t mean it’s time for the Pelicans to start from scratch.

Dealing New Orleans’ one redeeming asset to marginally extend what feels like a lost season would be a devastating blow, and it’s one that would sting twice as bad coming off the heels of an injury like this.

However, assuming Demps doesn’t do anything desperate with his eyes on the short-term, the Pelicans’ moment of truth will come in July when it’s time to negotiate a new deal with a recuperating DeMarcus Cousins.

There’s an inordinate amount of pressure on the New Orleans Pelicans to get this right, and there are no answers to be found for the best path to pursue.

Lowball Boogie or let him walk, and you risk pissing off Anthony Davis and missing out on a franchise cornerstone to pair him with. Overpay to keep him and he may never be the same, clogging up the books for the long-term and wasting more years of the Brow’s prime until their shining gem forces his way onto a team that’s ready to contend for championships.

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Navigating between those two horrific outcomes is an impossible task, and the front office will be hoping the next five months shed some light on his recovery process. But one thing is for certain: The New Orleans Pelicans have come too far to turn back now, and with Anthony Davis entering his prime, a full-scale roster blow-up involving Holiday, Cousins or their most precious asset isn’t happening.