At last year's NBA trade deadline, the New Orleans Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and 2017 first round and second round draft picks. Unfortunately, they failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
With the 2017-18 NBA season approaching, Cousins is focusing on losing weight at this stage of his career according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Cousins said. “I lost a lot of weight. I did my little training program in L.A. and I like the results. I’m good. I feel lighter on my feet. I’m moving a lot better than I have in previous years. It doesn’t hurt to wake up in the morning and the aches and pains have kind of gone away. It’s definitely benefited my body a lot more.”
With ESPN recently releasing their team record projections, Cousins believes the Pelicans can ‘shock' basketball fans and win more than 44 games:
“We see that we can do something special regardless of the reports or what the so-called experts think about our team,” Cousins said. “We’re very confident. We think we have a chance to shock a lot of people. I’m excited. I wish it was starting tomorrow. I’m excited about this season.”
In 17 appearances with New Orleans, Cousins slowed down a team who was attempting to play up-tempo under head coach Alvin Gentry. With the three-time All-Star looking slimmer and quicker, the next step is ensuring he can play with Anthony Davis in the league's small ball era.
As Cousins is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, making the playoffs is the team's top priority. If they are not competitive by All-Star break, it will be interesting to see if the Pelicans attempt to trade Cousins instead of losing him for nothing.
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