DeMarcus Cousins is out for the rest of the season with torn left achilles

[Eddie20]

Kevin Pelton says:

Gay's example provides hope but, on average, players coming back from Achilles injuries see their production decline by about 8 percent compared to what we would project based on their past performance and age. The good news is Cousins is so dominant he can afford to decline by 8 percent and remain a very good player. Nonetheless, it's possible that this injury will rob us of the peak Boogie we saw this season in New Orleans. And that has huge ramifications for both him and the Pelicans.

CONCLUSION:
An Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury that prevents RTP [return to play] for 30.6% of professional players. Athletes who do return play in fewer games, have less play time, and perform at a lower level than their preinjury status. However, these functional deficits are seen only at 1 year after surgery compared with matched controls, such that players who return to play can expect to perform at a level commensurate with uninjured controls 2 years postoperatively.

When individual sports were compared, NBA players were most significantly affected, experiencing significant decreases in games played, play time, and performance.

__

So going by Pelton's 8% decline, Cousins would have numbers like.

20.16 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4 APG, 1.28 SPG/BPG.

Yeah those are still Allstar numbers...

I still think if anyone can bounce back, it's Cousins... He has improved himself in every facet of his game, just like Lebron. If he can still manage to put up 18/9/2-3 APG, he's still arguably a top 5-6 Center.

I think those numbers are highly optimistic since the majority of examples are much smaller than Cousins . This quote is pretty accurate considering Cousins' size.

@KeithSmithNBA
History has been very unkind to big men coming back from a torn Achilles'. Patrick Ewing, Elton Brand, Mehmet Okur, Christian Laettner, Stanley Roberts and Mo Taylor are examples I could find. None were the same after. Many were close to done. Just a sad situation all around.

[tazzmaniac]

What the Pels should try to do is convince Cousins to sign a 2-year deal.  At the end of it he’ll be eligible for the 10 year max, so if he recovers he’ll be eligible for a top max deal with Bird rights.  If he doesn’t, then they’re not on the hook for an extra 2-3 years, and two year from now will be a trade deadline for them to still move Davis if it’s clear Cousins isn’t ever going to recover enough.

I don’t think that it’s the right time for Boogie to bet on himself.

He may not have another choice.  He wasn't a hot commodity before the injury.  Plenty of teams just don't want to deal with his baggage.  Now he'll probably miss a good chink of next season and it is far from certain that he'll be able to play at the same level again.   

Lakers and Mavs would give him the 4 year max contract faster than you can say, "Practice?"

Lakers might do that as a fallback if they can't get Lebron and/or George.  I'm not sure the Mavs would.  I don't recall any mention of them inquiring about Cousins when he was on the trading block.  I don't think Carlisle would want to deal with him at all. 

[hpantazo]

I could see the Nets giving him a full max contract. At least we don't have to worry about him going back to the Kings and ruining our potential pick next year. I believe that bridge is burned.

[Who]

Bummer on two fronts.

(1) The obvious one. The loss of a great player and to a career threatening injury at that. That will likely hurt his defense and quick drives / spin moves on offense. Cousins is so skilled that he will still be a 20+ppg threat after the injury but I worry about his defense and his efficiency will likely take a drop from the loss of some of those easy baskets off of drives.

(2) Now the NOP can fool themselves into thinking that the Davis-Cousins partnership can still be a success. They won't have the failure of a playoff run to show up their foolish ideas. So they will continue to believe and continue to keep Davis-Cousins together for another year or more. I cannot see them trading Davis this summer or next year's trade deadline. I think it will be summer 2019 or 2020 at the earliest that Davis is becomes available on the trade market.

On a side note, I don't think Cousins will be hurting for contract offers this summer. Heck, they gave Gilbert Arenas a max deal. They gave Elton Brand a max deal. Now the max deals are shorter and have less risk. Cousins will definitely be getting the max from someone. Probably more than one team. Likely NOP.

I'm thinking out loud here but can't you make a case that it's better if the Pels don't trade Davis for another year?  We can probably imagine the soonest we'd get him is after next season, presumably if the re-signed Cousins does not make an impact and they miss the playoffs.

Under those circumstances, the following would be true:

1) Al's 3rd year would be over and as an expiring, we would be 'free' to trade him if desired, which is big because we need a big salary to match Davis's.

2) We would know if Kyrie is re-signing.  Kyrie and AD are close and if Kyrie re-signs, it could help.

3) Jaylen and Jayson should have even more trade value.  Jaylen made a leap from the start of last season to the end, and then another leap this offseason, and Jayson is probably already better and borderline untradeable.  After another offseason and full year of seasoning, Jaylen may improve to the point where Jaylen, Al and a pick gets it done, which it wouldn't now.

4) AD should be cheaper because he'd have 1 to 1.5 less years on his deal.

5) If we get the Lakers pick, they can't angle for that and we'd offer something else, and if we get the Kings pick we can offer that and even potentially know its spot in the draft order.

Aren't all but #2 and #5 pretty certain to be good things for the Celtics assuming AD isn't available this year but it becomes a possibility at the end of next season?

Yeah, that could work. Youth develops and is more valuable. Al expiring. That could work out well for the C's trade assets.

I was hoping to see AD leave NOP sooner. He is my favourite player in the league.

[Monkhouse]

Kevin Pelton says:

Gay's example provides hope but, on average, players coming back from Achilles injuries see their production decline by about 8 percent compared to what we would project based on their past performance and age. The good news is Cousins is so dominant he can afford to decline by 8 percent and remain a very good player. Nonetheless, it's possible that this injury will rob us of the peak Boogie we saw this season in New Orleans. And that has huge ramifications for both him and the Pelicans.

CONCLUSION:
An Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury that prevents RTP [return to play] for 30.6% of professional players. Athletes who do return play in fewer games, have less play time, and perform at a lower level than their preinjury status. However, these functional deficits are seen only at 1 year after surgery compared with matched controls, such that players who return to play can expect to perform at a level commensurate with uninjured controls 2 years postoperatively.

When individual sports were compared, NBA players were most significantly affected, experiencing significant decreases in games played, play time, and performance.

__

So going by Pelton's 8% decline, Cousins would have numbers like.

20.16 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4 APG, 1.28 SPG/BPG.

Yeah those are still Allstar numbers...

I still think if anyone can bounce back, it's Cousins... He has improved himself in every facet of his game, just like Lebron. If he can still manage to put up 18/9/2-3 APG, he's still arguably a top 5-6 Center.

I think those numbers are highly optimistic since the majority of examples are much smaller than Cousins . This quote is pretty accurate considering Cousins' size.

@KeithSmithNBA
History has been very unkind to big men coming back from a torn Achilles'. Patrick Ewing, Elton Brand, Mehmet Okur, Christian Laettner, Stanley Roberts and Mo Taylor are examples I could find. None were the same after. Many were close to done. Just a sad situation all around.

I think the evolution of Cousins game. Shooting the 3 ball, being able to pass, and handling for a man of his size will still allow him to have more success.
 

What the Pels should try to do is convince Cousins to sign a 2-year deal.  At the end of it he’ll be eligible for the 10 year max, so if he recovers he’ll be eligible for a top max deal with Bird rights.  If he doesn’t, then they’re not on the hook for an extra 2-3 years, and two year from now will be a trade deadline for them to still move Davis if it’s clear Cousins isn’t ever going to recover enough.

I don’t think that it’s the right time for Boogie to bet on himself.

He may not have another choice.  He wasn't a hot commodity before the injury.  Plenty of teams just don't want to deal with his baggage.  Now he'll probably miss a good chink of next season and it is far from certain that he'll be able to play at the same level again.   

Lakers and Mavs would give him the 4 year max contract faster than you can say, "Practice?"

Lakers might do that as a fallback if they can't get Lebron and/or George.  I'm not sure the Mavs would.  I don't recall any mention of them inquiring about Cousins when he was on the trading block.  I don't think Carlisle would want to deal with him at all. 

Mavs have always been linked to Cousins, though. Where there's smoke there's fire.

[playdream]

Kevin Pelton says:

Gay's example provides hope but, on average, players coming back from Achilles injuries see their production decline by about 8 percent compared to what we would project based on their past performance and age. The good news is Cousins is so dominant he can afford to decline by 8 percent and remain a very good player. Nonetheless, it's possible that this injury will rob us of the peak Boogie we saw this season in New Orleans. And that has huge ramifications for both him and the Pelicans.

CONCLUSION:
An Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury that prevents RTP [return to play] for 30.6% of professional players. Athletes who do return play in fewer games, have less play time, and perform at a lower level than their preinjury status. However, these functional deficits are seen only at 1 year after surgery compared with matched controls, such that players who return to play can expect to perform at a level commensurate with uninjured controls 2 years postoperatively.

When individual sports were compared, NBA players were most significantly affected, experiencing significant decreases in games played, play time, and performance.

__

So going by Pelton's 8% decline, Cousins would have numbers like.

20.16 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4 APG, 1.28 SPG/BPG.

Yeah those are still Allstar numbers...

I still think if anyone can bounce back, it's Cousins... He has improved himself in every facet of his game, just like Lebron. If he can still manage to put up 18/9/2-3 APG, he's still arguably a top 5-6 Center.

I think those numbers are highly optimistic since the majority of examples are much smaller than Cousins . This quote is pretty accurate considering Cousins' size.

@KeithSmithNBA
History has been very unkind to big men coming back from a torn Achilles'. Patrick Ewing, Elton Brand, Mehmet Okur, Christian Laettner, Stanley Roberts and Mo Taylor are examples I could find. None were the same after. Many were close to done. Just a sad situation all around.

I think the evolution of Cousins game. Shooting the 3 ball, being able to pass, and handling for a man of his size will still allow him to have more success.

I think you underestimate the injury, we aren't talking about sprains/fractures here, it's a tendon
that even "Achilis" can't afford to tear

Kobe was what? 27/5/5? before the injury, as skilled/competitive as he is, he is basically done after that.
Granted Kobe was older, but Cousins was much bigger and also will need to take much more pressure playing his position
On top of that just image how he will handle the frustration noticing he no longer can dominate like before, i will bet money it isn't gonna go well

[CelticsElite]

I picture it being a long recovery process.. And he wont be the same


I wonder if it was the years of harsh wear and tear that caused this

[Emmette Bryant]

Don't forget, old friend Nate Archibald came back from 2 Achilles' tendon injuries.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/4492886-kobe-bryant-achilles-injury-status-return-lakers-nba-playoffs-2013-tiny-archibal

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Even if he comes back well, the next two pelican seasons are shot. There aren’t many prime years of superstars — can Davis afford to waste his?

I do think cousins will be back. He has always been a player about strength and will, not quickness.

[RJ87]

Jesus guys, Demarcus just suffered a season ending injury that very well could be career altering, can we at least give it 24 hours before we start salivating over Anthony Davis like tactless vultures?

[Ilikesports17]

Worst injury in sports.

Awful for Demarcus and for Nola.

2 more years of AD down the drain.

[Eddie20]

Jesus guys, Demarcus just suffered a season ending injury that very well could be career altering, can we at least give it 24 hours before we start salivating over Anthony Davis like tactless vultures?

Why? Are sport related/non-life threatening injuries part of the grieving process?

[Birdman]

Feel very sorry for Boogie or anyone who suffer this horrific injury..and with his size and playing basketball, its going to be  a rough road for him  also hate it for Pelicans fans who team is starting to win games

[RJ87]

Jesus guys, Demarcus just suffered a season ending injury that very well could be career altering, can we at least give it 24 hours before we start salivating over Anthony Davis like tactless vultures?

Why? Are sport related/non-life threatening injuries part of the grieving process?

Because someone has spent decades of their lives trying to get to this level of play and has sustained an injury that has proven to be detrimental to careers. Might not be a literal death, but it's the death of a dream.

[CelticsElite]

Jesus guys, Demarcus just suffered a season ending injury that very well could be career altering, can we at least give it 24 hours before we start salivating over Anthony Davis like tactless vultures?

Why? Are sport related/non-life threatening injuries part of the grieving process?

apparently we're supposed to hold hands and sing kumbaya for 24 hrs for cousins before we can discuss basketball