Matt Steinmetz

What a fascinating day for the NBA and Sacramento Kings. In a blockbuster trade, the Kings sent DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and a first and second-round pick.

We talked in-depth about the Cousins’ trade and what it means for each franchise with a few experts. First, we talked with Golden State Warriors’ television analyst Jim Barnett, then Sacramento Kings beat writer for the Sacramento Bee, Jason Jones, and, finally, Jennifer Hale, the Pelicans’ sideline reporter. Here are those links:

Link to interview with Jim Barnett.

Link to interview with Jason Jones

Link to interview with Jennifer Hale.

Among the topics that were discussed:

–Barnett believes the Pelicans now boast the two most talented big men in the league in Cousins and Anthony Davis. He also made a few parallels with teams of the past that acquired centers and then their fortunes turning around. Barnett believes there are similarities to the Kings trading Cousins to the Pelicans and Charlotte trading Alonzo Mourning to Miami.

–What does the acquisition of Cousins mean for a potential first-round matchup against the Warriors? Well, there’s absolutely no doubt about it, the Pelicans’ strength — size — is the Warriors’ weakness. But not just any size, mind you, talented size. Nobody is saying the Warriors are going to be an underdog if these teams meet in the first round, but it’s going to be a lot more interesting than it might have been.

–The perception is that the Kings got raked over the coals in this trade. General manager Vlade Divac said he had a better offer a couple of days ago but the deal fell through … something about “agents.” It’s difficult to defend this trade if you’re Sacramento. Cousins is perhaps the best big man in the league and Hield is an unknown and other two players are role players. Yikes.

–Jason Jones talked about how shocked Cousins was when he found out he was being traded. Jones has some solid insight into what’s been going on with Cousins the past day or so, and it’s clear Cousins wasn’t expecting this. Jones also talks about another aspect of this whole thing — how Cousins seems to be getting kicked to the curb by his old squad.

–OK, the Pelicans are not a playoff team right now. They’re 2 1/2 games behind the Denver Nuggets. Still, let’s be honest. This team should be able to make that up — for goodness sakes they have Cousins and Davis. If Jrue Holiday stays healthy, and the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs, you gotta believe Alvin Gentry may not be around next season.

–And by the way, what are the Kings thinking? Where are they going? It’s hard to tell. The question now becomes for Kings whether anyone else is going to be sent packing — a Darren Collison, a Ben McLemore, maybe a Kosta Koufos?

The trade of DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans couldn’t have come at a better time. The reason? Well, it body-checked out of the way what had been the biggest story during All-Star Weekend: the Russell Westbrook-Kevin Durant feud.

Let’s face it, we were all getting sick of that and now we can move on. Conventional wisdom is that the Kings may have just made one of the worst trades in NBA history, sending Cousins and Omri Casspi to the Pelicans for rookie Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and first-round pick and second-round pick.

The move has been widely criticized as has been the Kings’ organization, their owner, Vivek Ranadive, and their GM, Vlade Divac. Few seem to have taken exception to the Kings trading Cousins, who has had his ups and downs in Sacramento. Rather, the issue is what the Kings got back — which many see as very, very little.

Here’s Link to my radio appearance on 95.7-FM The game, when we talked about the Cousins’ trade, All-Star Weekend and the second half of the NBA season. 

It’s tough to stick up for this trade if you’re looking at it from the Kings’ perspective. They just gave up perhaps the best center in the game for an unproven rookie and a couple of role-playing veterans along with a couple of picks. But what I do remember is a trade from way back in 2000, when another team was absolutely lambasted for what was perceived as an awful trade.

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The Sacramento Kings had a couple of things going against them on Wednesday night when they played the Golden State Warriors. First off, the Warriors were coming off a blowout loss on Monday to the Denver Nuggets. Second, the last time these teams played — less than two weeks ago — the Kings knocked off the Warriors in overtime.

To top it all off, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made it clear during the team’s shoot-around that he wanted this game — the final one before the All-Star break.

So it made total sense that the Warriors handled the Kings 109-86 at Oracle, and headed into the all-star break with an NBA-best 47-9 record. Only it wasn’t as easy as you might think. The Warriors were sluggish to start the game, and it lingered into the second quarter.

Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show on 95.7-FM The Game.

It didn’t help that Draymond Green was ejected late in the second quarter after picking up two technical fouls.

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