NBA Trade Rumors: Is There a Chance the Washington Wizards Will Be Able to Acquire DeMarcus Cousins This Season?
Wizards guard John Wall and Cousins have talked about playing together on the same NBA team before
Even before they ever set foot on an NBA court as professional athletes, current Washington Wizards guard John Wall and current New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins were already good friends and teammates.
Wall and Cousins famously starred on the same Kentucky Wildcats team and were also taken as high lottery picks in the same NBA Draft, with the former going first overall and the latter taken fifth.
Since then, while both players have emerged as All-Star players, their journeys in the NBA have still been quite different.
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Wall has assumed the role of the top guy for an Eastern Conference contender, while Cousins is on his second team after the Sacramento Kings decided it was time to move on and accepted some future assets in exchange for the talented big man.
Furthermore, while Wall has been immersed in the postseason hothouse and has taken his Wizards to the brink of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cousins has yet to even play a minute in the playoffs.
That trend could continue this year, as the Wizards are again on pace to finish with one of the best records in their conference, while the Western Conference-based Pelicans are currently scrapping to hold on to a playoff spot.
For much of this year, there have been rumblings that the Pelicans may be open to dealing Cousins if they fall out of the playoff chase. And while they are in the thick of things at the moment, their position is perilous enough that one can easily see other, arguably more talented squads overtaking them sooner rather than later.
Which is to say that even if the Pelicans may not be thinking about trading Cousins yet, that could change before the trading deadline.
Should the Pelicans indeed decide to move Cousins and recoup what value they can for him, there is a good chance that the Wizards will be among their suitors, with Wall likely lobbying for a trade.
As Metro US pointed out, Wall and Cousins have shared a desire to play together on the same team for a while now.
Wall expressed as much previously to the Washington Post and then a little later on to The Undefeated.
If Wall is to be believed, and there are certainly good reasons to do so, then Cousins is onboard with the whole playing together thing as well.
There is a chance that the Pelicans are not going to fall out of the playoff race and maybe Cousins will get his first taste of the postseason while still a member of his current team. Such an outcome for this season is certainly possible.
Even so, Wall and Cousins playing on the same team again seems like a possibility as well.
