Friday, one of the worst things that could have happened to the Pelicans did. While the night saw New Orleans defeat the Houston Rockets 115-113, it also saw center DeMarcus Cousins go down with a torn Achilles tendon. With this, the All-Star will be out for the remainder of the season, lending NOLA more obstacles on their journey back to the postseason. While the Pelicans definitely still roster amble talent, with Cousins now gone the team as a whole has lost some serious depth, specifically in the front court. With the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching (February 8th) the franchise could potentially look towards acquiring the services of an established player to add to their most recent vacancy. As for who they could target, is it possible Los Angeles Lakers big-man Julius Randle could be a viable option?
Right off the bat let’s make something clear; no one is stating Julius Randle is as good as DeMarcus Cousins. To be frank, it’s quite possible that there are no bigs as good as Boogie. However, with him now gone for the season the Pelicans are in need of a replacement. Sure, in times like these some teams would go to the old “next man up” strategy, looking towards their bench for assistance but, unfortunately for the Pelicans, that type of player does not currently reside in New Orleans. So, if they wish to fill the void Cousins has left, they must look to the trading route.
Now you may be asking yourself, “of all the players currently on the trading block, why Julius Randle?” Well first, and quite frankly the most important reason, is his contract. Randle is in the midst of his fourth year of his Rookie-deal. After this season, the big-man is eligible to hit the open market, thus coming completely off the books for whatever franchise chooses to roster him. For the New Orleans Pelicans, this would definitely be a plus in an attempt to replace Cousins for the remainder of the season.
Say the Pelicans did in fact trade for Randle. It would go either one of two ways, both of which having little to no negative impacts on the franchise moving forward. If the team traded for Randle and it ended up as a success, the Pelicans could look to re-signing the big-man over the summer once he hits free-agency. With this, they could have him running alongside Davis and (hopefully) DeMarcus Cousins for years to come!
On the other hand, however, if the marriage didn’t end up working out, the center/ forward would simply come off the books entirely, giving the Pelicans no serious repercussions moving forward aside from, maybe, giving LA a future draft pick. The trade, however, would still be seen as a success for they were able to shed cap space in the process, which is always a good thing!
This season, Randle quietly has been putting up some solid numbers. Per 36-minutes the big-man is averaging 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.0 BPG. Adding this kind of production to the New Orleans front-court would certainly help. In fact, three of his four aforementioned statistics would be the second best among active players on the roster. His talent and skill set would surely be appreciated if he were to produce the way he has in Los Angeles.
If New Orleans were to trade for Randle it would probably mean Davis would have to slide down to the five spot and play center in the line-up. This, however, should be no problem for Davis, for his height (6-10) and added weight (254 lbs) set him up to be as dominant a force at center as he is at power forward. With AD manning the five and Randle holding down for four-spot, the Pelicans could potentially jump right back into their versatile big-man oriented style of play that saw much success this season.
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Look, am I saying the Pelicans should definitely pursue a trade for Julius Randle? Of course not! However, if they did, no matter what happens, their future should still remain bright. Replacing a player like Boogie is never easy. But with the talent Julius Randle possesses, maybe having him as a temporary replacement for the All-Star center wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. No matter how one looks at it, either way New Orleans comes out on top!