A night for the Birds: Davis All-Star MVP, Pelicans trade for Cousins

That makes Sacramento look pretty smart in dealing him when they did (even if they got better offers before agreeing to a trade with New Orleans).

News of the trade, reported by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, came down around the same time players were set to meet with the press for postgame interviews.

One tweet that gained some significant traction in the aftermath was from ESPN reporter J.A. Adande, who noted that between the 2010 and 2011 drafts, Sacramento actually nailed several picks. He can re-sign a max extension with the team in 2018 for about five years and $180 million, which means this trade could end up costing him $30 million over the long haul.

The Sacramento Kings stunned the National Basketball Association world by trading DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans in what most have viewed as a awful trade, and now it is starting to sound like the deal is even worse than that for the future of the franchise.

Admittedly, this is a heavy requirement for the Pistons, but things can drastically change when a team is approaching a trade deadline.

This may have also played a factor in why the Kings did not wait until closer to the deadline. In 2015, when a Sacramento area high school football player tragically died before a playoff game, Cousins covered his funeral costs. What may surprise you is that despite years of talk, the Celtics apparently never had any interest whatsoever in acquiring Cousins. He’s been a solid shooter for his career and is hitting 42 percent on his 3-pointers on the season.

The Kings, clearly, got nothing in return for waiving Whiteside. Cousins, now 25-years-old, is set to make more than $18 million during the 2017-’18 season, all of which will be considered dead cap. Danny Ainge doesn’t want to include him in the deal and the Bulls are insisting he be included in any deal. They have one more win than the eighth-place Detroit Pistons and three more wins than the ninth- and 10th-place Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.

The Kings were at significant risk of losing a 2017 top-10 protected pick to Chicago, and the trade now increases the chances they can hold on to it.