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New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins tore his left Achilles tendon last night during a 115-113 home win over the Houston Rockets. ESPN reported last night that Cousins would miss the remainder of this season after undergoing surgery.
This is not good news for the Pelicans, who run their offense mostly through their star big men, Cousins and Anthony Davis. There could not have been a worse moment for the injury, as the team was just starting to figure out how to run their offense with a “Big Three” rounded out by Jrue Holiday. After suffering from a lot of injuries in recent memory, they were finally poised to show everybody what they can do.
The team will only be able to continue with help of their depth, or if they make a trade, as ESPN's Bobby Marks says the Pelicans cannot apply for the Disabled Player Exception:
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“New Orleans is not eligible to apply for the Disabled Player Exception based on DeMarcus Cousins injury coming after January 15. The exception would have been of little use based on New Orleans only $1.2M below the hard cap.”
This suggests that had the injury occurred before January 15 and if the team was a good amount below the hard cap, they would have been able to look for extra help.
Boogie averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5,4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks on 47 percent shooting from the field and 35.4 from beyond the 3-point line this season. It is essentially impossible for someone on New Orleans' bench to replace his production, so Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo and E'Twaun Moore should all take a heavier workload to help ease Cousins' absence.
The Pelicans' playoff chances are still alive. Alexis Ajinca, Omer Asik, and Cheick Diallo could all see an increase in minutes. Also, expect the front office to be very active as the trade deadline approaches.
