As foreign as New Orleans’ twin towers model felt in this age of pace and space, both bigs had enough perimeter skills to make it work. The Pelicans could still spread the floor, only they could do it without sacrificing size.
The results weren’t dominant, but they were encouraging—a plus-4.2 net rating, which would have ranked sixth overall. When New Orleans put proper shooting around them, it made you wonder if this was the bulldozing duo capable of overwhelming trendy small-ball units.new nike nfl jerseys cheap
That said, the Pelicans going to that same small-ball look with Mirotic as a stretch 4 provided even better production. The pace picked up, three-pointers splashed and Davis either overpowered or outran his counterparts at center. The Davis-Mirotic combo yielded a plus-10.7 mark, which no one matched this season.
“The team just looks like it fits,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr remarked, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “The puzzle fits together beautifully, and I think it suits Alvin [Gentry’s] eyes. This is his kind of team, and they’re playing extremely well.”
If that’s enough to make you think New Orleans would be better off without Boogie, you’re not alone.buy nike nfl jerseys cheap
“Maxing out a big man who clogs the floor for Davis—one coming off an Achilles tear who also has a history of locker-room negativity and unreliable effort/conditioning—would be a disaster,” Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes wrote. “There’s really no scenario in which keeping Cousins makes sense.”
But it’s not that simple.
Shedding Cousins wouldn’t open up enough wiggle room to find a high-level replacement. Keeping him, though, would open the possibilities of staggering his minutes with those going to Davis and Mirotic, potentially giving the Pelicans a shapeshifting frontcourt for any situation.cheap nfl nike jerseys china
The bigger argument for re-signing Cousins, though, might trump the rest—Davis is for it.
“I’m going to keep selling the dream here,” Davis said, per Marc Stein of the New York Times. “I’ll be very involved—I want him here.”
If there’s a risk that cutting Cousins could alienate Davis—who can enter free agency in 2020—nfl nike jersey cheap that sounds more catastrophic than possibly overpaying Cousins. New Orleans shouldn’t hand him a blank check, but the NBA’s ninth-best scorer and third-best rebounder remains worthy of a significant investment.
