New Orleans Pelicans: 5 goals for the 2018 offseason

2. Figure out what to do with DeMarcus Cousins

Once DeMarcus Cousins was proclaimed out for the season following a midseason Achilles tear, both his plans and New Orleans’ free agency plans changed drastically.

The Pelicans were probably on their way to re-signing the perennial All-Star to a max deal. After all, both he and Davis were starting to mesh on the court, with Boogie averaging 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game.

A tear of the Achilles is no small injury to come back from. Just ask Kobe Bryant, whose own Achilles tear was the beginning of the end for the future Hall-of-Famer. Granted, Kobe was already towards the end of his career, but the arduous recovery process and surgically repaired tendon in his leg certainly didn’t do him any favors.

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With that type of injury, do the Pelicans really want to give max dollars to a guy that might never be what he once was?

On top of that, New Orleans didn’t seem to miss Cousins once he went down, bringing in Nikola Mirotic and sliding AD down a position, spacing the floor and adding an entirely new dimension to their offensive attack en route to their exceptional postseason run.

Given how well they played after Boogie’s injury, it doesn’t appear to make much sense for the Pelicans to bring him back into the fold, especially if it requires a large chunk of the salary cap in order to do so.

New Orleans would probably be better served addressing actual deficiencies within its roster, rather than simply trying to acquire as much talent as possible.