The man in the middle there - the one with the killer smile - he's number four in our 9 players, 9 days series. More on DeMarcus Cousins after the jump.
The top four guys on my list could all be superstars. Four different kinds of superstars, but they all have that potential. If I was basing this top four on tangibles alone, meaning stats, measurements, etc, Cousins would probably be number 1, maybe 1B. He's a beast down low with the size and skills to be a dominant center very quickly at the NBA level. Why is he number 4, you ask? Well, attitude, maturity, motivation and maturity.
I've heard conflicting reports all season long, and while I may have heard enough good to outweigh the bad concerning his attitude, the thing that really worries me is his weight. I'm positive he's going to be carved out of stone for measurements and workouts this summer, but he looked heavy to me when I saw Kentucky play this season and I have concerns that he'll stay in shape when he reaches the next level. Toss in the attitude problems and, well, this guy could flame out. There's more risk involved with Cousins than the other guys in the top four. But based on size and talent, there's a very, very good chance the teams that pass on him will be kicking themselves for the next decade.
If Cousins drops to #6 the Sixers will have gotten unbelievably lucky. He slots in as a starter immediately at the five with Sammy either relegated to the bench or traded when opening night comes. The team immediately becomes built around Cousins in the half court. Jrue and Iguodala feed him, soon enough, teams realize they need to double Cousins and things open up on the outside for Jrue, Iguodala, Kapono, Meeks and anyone else who wants to shoot open jumpers.
Long term, if Cousins really pans out and turns into a 25-10-2 (pts/rebs/blks) center, the Sixers have their superstar, they have a dominant big man in the middle (probably the most dominant offensive big in the Eastern Conference) and they're left rounding out a roster, adding pieces to fit with Cousins, Jrue and Iguodala to build a true contender. If Cousins doesn't pan out, it could mean trouble for the franchise, because they will absolutely give him every single chance to fulfill his potential, possibly to the detriment of other players on the roster and the locker room. He could tear the team apart.
Cousins is 100% worth taking if he drops to #6, he's also worth trading up to get. He is the type of guy you can build a team around. I think if you get him, you absolutely have to get a coach who is going to command respect in the locker room. I'd also give serious consideration to trading Speights immediately, and probably Dalembert as well. I want this kid surrounded by a group of hard-working, no nonsense players. No bad influences on the team for his first couple years until you can be absolutely sure he's on the right track. I'd also immediately hire Moses Malone full time to be the nominal big man coach, but in reality, he'd be Cousins' shadow. He'd spend all his time working with the kid, drilling into his head exactly what it takes to turn all that talent and potential into dominance on the floor in the NBA. Most importantly, if you get a guy like Cousins with all that potential and all those red flags, I think you have to treat him differently. By that, I don't mean you bend the rules for him, I mean you hold him to a higher standard, and you give him structure. Moses plays the big brother. You hire a nutritionist. You hire a chef to live with him if you have to. You hire someone to be his babysitter when he's not on the floor. You do everything and anything you can think of to keep this kid on the straight and narrow and you make sure basketball is his life, period.
Still, he's number four for a reason. Even if all the extreme measures were taken, there's still a good chance the attitude problems flare up. There's a real chance he winds up hurting your team. I'd love to put odds on it, but I just can't. All I know is that every time I think about the upside, the downside puts a damper on my feelings.
Here's the top nine so far...
9. Ed Davis 8. Cole Aldrich 7. Ekpe Udoh 6. Al-Farouq Aminu 5. Wesley Johnson 4. DeMarcus Cousins 3. Coming tomorrow...
Here's a video of Cousins highlights. Pay close attention to his work in the post, especially the strength, the footwork and the foot speed on the drop steps from the left side of the hoop. Amazing for a guy his size.
I don't think there is any way this guy drops to 6 unless their are even more red flags than we know about. I can't remember the last post player who was so polished coming into the league. Demarcus is also no slouch on D either he really gives effort on that side of the ball and has what Jay Bilas likes to call great second jump ability. I feel like this guy is a can't miss prospect and agree with you Brian that you can absolutely build a championship contender around him. Let's say we stay at 6 would you trade #6 and a young guy like Thad or Speights to move up two spots to get him? I know I would.
I was thinking to a team like Minnesota if they get the third pick because they're desperate for an athletic wing and Rudy Gay or any of the other top swingmen in the free agent class won't go there so they could be interested in trading for Thad and then taking Aldrich at 6 or someone like that to fill their two biggest needs (wing,true center).
There's no way I'd give up Iguodala just to move up two spots. Id rather have Iguodala and Aminu than just Cousins. Minnesota might consider something for Thad I don't think he's completely ruined his value around the league yet.
Yeah,but you can't really look at it as just moving up 2 spots. You're moving up to get a potentially dominant center for the next decade. The difference talent-wise between the 4-6 is potentially worth more than what Iguodala gives to a bad team.
The price for the #5 pick in the draft last season was Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Not for a team to move up to the #5 spot, but for the pick by itself.
I don't really see something like that happening again,even if it's Iguodala and the 6th. The value of the 6th pick in a 5 man draft is worthless to a team that's comfortably positioned at number 4. A team will have to ask themselves if the dropoff in talent between the 4th and 6th pick is worth what they'll gain in adding Iguodala. Considering how difficult it is to add a dominant big in the NBA, I don't see a team passing up on Favors or Cousins to take on Iguodala and the 6th pick.
Cousins is the absolute wild card. I would pick him in a min, especially if he drops, because, as you said, Dominant bigs are worth their weight in titles.
If you get a top-2 pick and draft Turner, and say Minny is sitting at 6 and Cousins is available, would you trade anybody except Jrue(even Dala with a future #1 swap?) for the rights to Cousins?
Your nucleus would be Jrue, Turner, Thad and Cousins, with the oldest being 22?
Yes. With a solid coach ready to build a team and not in the "win now" mind set, at least two of those guys should blossom into big time players. That's an OKC type nucleus right there.
Yes. Not sure we could get that deal done, but would jump at the chance.
Not only is that a promising nucleus, but in 3 years you would have a number of good pieces and no financial problems. The team would be in great shape to add another vet piece to contend.
Stefanski pulls Turner/Cousins out of the hat this summer and I give him GM for life.
Cousins is a great talent, but he does lack explosiveness. I do not see Shaq like 25 pts out of him. Nor will hge be nearly the impact player on defense as Shaq/Howard. But he is skilled enough to be a very good scorer (20 pts?) and a great rebounder. That still would put him up their amongst the leagues best bigs. He would be great along with a stretch PF who is a goo shot blocker (Josh Smith, Kirelenko types.)
I think Brian's idea about Moses bas a mentor/teacher sounds great. But I fear this organization is to messed up to provide the stability to get the most out of an enigmatic talent like Cousins. Of course Barkley and AI did well here- at least for a while.
If you owned the number 4 pick, would you move it for Iguodala? I don't think I would, Iggy has a hefty contract, he doesn't do enough to change the fortunes of a bottom dwelling team(kinda like the Sixers)
Iguodala is a top 3 pick talent, but the big contract would give most rebuilding teams pause. While a good team (Utah) would probably prefer an established talent.
I like the idea about hiring Moses. I re-read an old Mark Cuban interview the other day, talking about all the assistants he hires because "paying someone $50,000 a year to babysit your million dollar + investment is a good idea". I couldn't agree more. Granted Moses would be more than that, but the point stands.
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What a talent! If one could only get inside his head. Agree with the point about Sammy & Speights going if we draft him.
Nice piece on traded picks in 2010 draft.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=16223
I think of being Orlando #2 with him, get shooters, especially a stetch 4 [Thad?] and let Iggy be the only non-shooter in the starting 5.
I don't think there is any way this guy drops to 6 unless their are even more red flags than we know about. I can't remember the last post player who was so polished coming into the league. Demarcus is also no slouch on D either he really gives effort on that side of the ball and has what Jay Bilas likes to call great second jump ability. I feel like this guy is a can't miss prospect and agree with you Brian that you can absolutely build a championship contender around him. Let's say we stay at 6 would you trade #6 and a young guy like Thad or Speights to move up two spots to get him? I know I would.
#6 + Speights to get up to #4 for Cousins? Yeah, I'd do that.
I was thinking to a team like Minnesota if they get the third pick because they're desperate for an athletic wing and Rudy Gay or any of the other top swingmen in the free agent class won't go there so they could be interested in trading for Thad and then taking Aldrich at 6 or someone like that to fill their two biggest needs (wing,true center).
what about Iguodala and 6 to get up to 4? I think any value Speights had following the rookie campaign has diminished.
There's no way I'd give up Iguodala just to move up two spots. Id rather have Iguodala and Aminu than just Cousins. Minnesota might consider something for Thad I don't think he's completely ruined his value around the league yet.
Yeah,but you can't really look at it as just moving up 2 spots. You're moving up to get a potentially dominant center for the next decade. The difference talent-wise between the 4-6 is potentially worth more than what Iguodala gives to a bad team.
The price for the #5 pick in the draft last season was Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Not for a team to move up to the #5 spot, but for the pick by itself.
I don't really see something like that happening again,even if it's Iguodala and the 6th. The value of the 6th pick in a 5 man draft is worthless to a team that's comfortably positioned at number 4. A team will have to ask themselves if the dropoff in talent between the 4th and 6th pick is worth what they'll gain in adding Iguodala. Considering how difficult it is to add a dominant big in the NBA, I don't see a team passing up on Favors or Cousins to take on Iguodala and the 6th pick.
Cousins is the absolute wild card. I would pick him in a min, especially if he drops, because, as you said, Dominant bigs are worth their weight in titles.
Question:
If you get a top-2 pick and draft Turner, and say Minny is sitting at 6 and Cousins is available, would you trade anybody except Jrue(even Dala with a future #1 swap?) for the rights to Cousins?
Your nucleus would be Jrue, Turner, Thad and Cousins, with the oldest being 22?
Yes. With a solid coach ready to build a team and not in the "win now" mind set, at least two of those guys should blossom into big time players. That's an OKC type nucleus right there.
As much as I like AI9 I'd do that deal without a second thought. I'd still want Laimbeer as coach.
Yes. Not sure we could get that deal done, but would jump at the chance.
Not only is that a promising nucleus, but in 3 years you would have a number of good pieces and no financial problems. The team would be in great shape to add another vet piece to contend.
Stefanski pulls Turner/Cousins out of the hat this summer and I give him GM for life.
Cousins is a great talent, but he does lack explosiveness. I do not see Shaq like 25 pts out of him. Nor will hge be nearly the impact player on defense as Shaq/Howard. But he is skilled enough to be a very good scorer (20 pts?) and a great rebounder. That still would put him up their amongst the leagues best bigs. He would be great along with a stretch PF who is a goo shot blocker (Josh Smith, Kirelenko types.)
I think Brian's idea about Moses bas a mentor/teacher sounds great. But I fear this organization is to messed up to provide the stability to get the most out of an enigmatic talent like Cousins. Of course Barkley and AI did well here- at least for a while.
If anybody falls to No. 6, I'd say Cousins and potentially Johnson would be the leading candidates.
As for moving up to No. 4, don't think Speights and 6 would be enough.
Could Iguodala alone get #4?
If you owned the number 4 pick, would you move it for Iguodala? I don't think I would, Iggy has a hefty contract, he doesn't do enough to change the fortunes of a bottom dwelling team(kinda like the Sixers)
Iguodala is a top 3 pick talent, but the big contract would give most rebuilding teams pause. While a good team (Utah) would probably prefer an established talent.
I like the idea about hiring Moses. I re-read an old Mark Cuban interview the other day, talking about all the assistants he hires because "paying someone $50,000 a year to babysit your million dollar + investment is a good idea". I couldn't agree more. Granted Moses would be more than that, but the point stands.
Dirk ought to be the story but many of America was pulling for that Heat to get rid of, not for that Mavs to win.