If DeMarcus Cousins Teams Up With John Wall In D.C. They’ll Be A Real Threat To The Cleveland Cavaliers
If DeMarcus Cousins teams up with John Wall in D.C. they’ll be a real threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, DeMarcus Cousins said that he’d play with John Wall and the Washington Wizards. That could spell trouble for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"“(DeMarcus Cousins) said he would come to D.C., but he didn’t know what was going to happen,” Wizards guard John Wall told The Undefeated. “I didn’t know he was going to be traded like that. We thought it was going to be later on or he was just going to stay [in Sacramento]. It shocked me just like it shocked him.”"
The statement was made before the Sacramento Kings traded Cousins but it doesn’t change the possibility that Cousins could be traded again. The New Orleans Pelicans are 3-7 with DeMarcus Cousins in the lineup and 2-0 without him. The Twin Towers offense hasn’t afforded the Pels with as much success as they’d like, with Cousins and Anthony Davis failing to find a rhythm at the same time.
The Pelicans aren’t a dysfunctional franchise like the Kings and haven’t shown any inclination that they’ll be as stubborn and resistant to trading the oft-criticized center. Cousins, after receiving his 19th technical foul and subsequently putting himself in the company of a volatile player like Rasheed Wallace, simply hasn’t panned out in New Orleans. The Pels aren’t winning with him and Cousins hasn’t changed his ways for him.
In such a trade, the most feasible scenario would be a sign-and-trade. With Otto Porter having a career season in the final year of his rookie season, he’ll have close to max-contract value. He’ll also be a restricted free agent, meaning the Wizards could simply match any offer they get for him,
Porter would play well between Solomon Hill and Anthony Davis with his rebounding, three-point shooting and ability to play off-the-ball. In terms of building a team, the Pels would be more competitive with Porter playing beside Hill and Davis than Cousins. Not only do they not have to force feed Porter, Porter is a quiet and hard-working player like Kawhi Leonard. That’s not to say Cousins doesn’t work hard but he certainly isn’t quiet.
On the flip side of this trade, the Wizards would definitely be winning with this transaction as well.
John Wall was Cousins’ teammate at the University of Kentucky in the 2009-2010 season. The duo both scored over 15 points per game, combining for 31.7 points per game. That was 40.0 percent of the Kentucky Wildcats average.
Expect that same production in the NBA. A point guard is often a big man’s best friend, as the lead guard will feed the big entry passes into the post, find them in pick-and-rolls and reward them for running in transition. Given the duo’s past success, albeit at the collegiate level, there’s no reason to expect that they wouldn’t be able to find a way to dominate on the NBA level. After all, they’re two of the best players at their position.
Cousins is currently averaging 26.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while contributing 1.2 blocks per game. Wall is averaging 23.0 points, 10.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while contributing 2.0 steals per game.
That’s a dangerous duo for any team to face, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, the perennial favorites in the Eastern Conference.
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Cousins and Wall together is not going to be a good matchup for the Cleveland Cavaliers at all. Not only does Wall move like the Tazmanian Devil and have incredible playmaking ability, Cousins is a mobile and versatile big man that can draw Tristan Thompson out of the paint and give Channing Frye or Kevin Love fits.
We haven’t even mentioned Bradley Beal, a player who is just as athletic as J.R. Smith and currently averaging 23.2 points and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range (7.4 attempts). He’s a player who’s dangerous off-the-dribble and behind-the-line with nice ball-handling ability, an impressive slasher and has a sweet shooting stroke.
Hypothetically speaking, that’s going to be a great Big Three for the Washington Wizards. The trio combines for 72.9 points, 18.3 rebounds and 19.1 assists per game.
The Big Three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have combined for 82.0 points, 24.0 rebounds and 18.5 assists per game when they’ve played the Washington Wizards this season. Their success is predicated on nobody being strong enough on the wings to slow James down at all, no one can stop Irving from getting where he wants to on the court and Love being a menace on the block or beyond the arc.
Yet, without even one of the Big Three on the court the Cavs will be at a serious disadvantage. Where the Wizards have the Cavs beat is youth and athleticism.
The Cavs will presumably have four players that are 32-years-old and older if Deron Williams departs (although the Cavs could sign a player like Jose Calderon or Raymond Felton as backup point guards in free agency, both whom are over thirty). In addition, this season the Cavs have been hit hard by the injury bug and it doesn’t inspire confidence that James and Thompson haven’t had an injury thus far into their career because it seems impossible.
James is 32-years-old and when you include his postseason appearances and international play he may have logged as many as 50,000 minutes. Thompson hasn’t missed a game in the last four seasons. It would be amazing for James and Thompson’s incredible run to continue but it would be unwise to count on there being absolutely nothing happening to keep them out of a game.
The youth of the Wizards and their overall athleticism will be seen in their play in transition and though both teams to get out into transition and allow for there to be a lot of high-scoring affairs, that’s not a battle that the Cavs should try to win. They’d be better off trying to slow down the game and win in the halfcourt but the Cleveland Cavaliers inability to keep up with switches on rotations could be exposed by a core such as the one the Wiz are expected to have. A core that is young, athletic and full of great passers.
To that point, a playoff series between the Cavs and this version of the Wizards would be a real challenge for the current defending champs.
Te Boston Celtics are a great team reminiscent of the Chauncey Billups-led Detroit Pistons. The Toronto Raptors are another team that will be dangerous for the Cavs in the future after adding Serge Ibaka to the roster. Yet, it’s the Washington Wizards who should be the biggest threats to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’re a talented team on paper and their best players will be matchup problems for the Cavs, something that’s not necessarily the case for the other two squads.
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Do you think that a John Wall-DeMarcus Cousins tandem would be trouble for the Cleveland Cavaliers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.
*All stats referenced from www.basketball-reference.com