Age: 27
NBA experience: Eight seasons (two with Pelicans)
Games played/started: 48/48
SEASON OVERVIEW
The social-media posts documenting his recovery from an Achilles injury have been hashtagged “#TheResurgence” or “#0Doubt,” the latter partly a reference to his New Orleans uniform number. Cousins’ second season with the Pelicans may be best described as “unfinished business.”
When the 6-foot-11, four-time All-Star fell to the floor during the final seconds of an impressive New Orleans win over Houston on Jan. 26, it immediately meant an end to his hopes of appearing in the NBA playoffs for the first time in his career. Instead, he was forced to spend the rest of the season beginning his rehabilitation from an injury that has a multi-month timetable and has recently struck players such as Kobe Bryant, Rudy Gay and Wesley Matthews. Cousins now heads into unrestricted free agency at midnight July 1.
How would New Orleans have fared over the final 34 games of the regular season if Cousins had remained in uniform? Would the Pelicans have continued to play at the same high level that saw them win seven of the last eight games Cousins played? What kind of matchup problems would Cousins and All-Star tag-team partner Anthony Davis have posed for the Pelicans’ rivals in the Western Conference? Cousins’ injury left New Orleans with a slew of questions that were forced to be left unanswered.
VOICE OF THE FAN
As part of our look back at the season, we checked in with Pelicans fans to get their feedback on 2017-18. Third in the series: What have you learned most about Cousins in the 65 games he’s played here since arriving in the Crescent City? Some of the responses were mentioned in the podcast portion of this season review, but here are a few others:
New Orleans’ roster has generally been comprised of quieter, more laidback personalities in the recent past, both on and off the court. You always know Cousins is on the floor.
The NBA in general is moving away from back-to-the-basket, low-post offensive play, in favor of more three-point shooting and spacing the floor. Cousins individually has gone in the same direction, as is the case for many of the league’s new breed of ultra-skilled bigs. As recently as three seasons ago, he fired eight three-pointers for an entire season; Cousins took nine or more trey attempts in eight separate games during ’17-18.
Cousins has rare passing skills for a player of his size. He dished out seven assists in 14 different games this season, with New Orleans going 9-5 in those instances, including wins over Houston and Cleveland.