re: What is the max you will offer Boogie to keep him?

I would like to see a list of realistic suitors for cousins. teams with the ability to take his near max contract terms and are a fit to his style of play. These teams would also have the luxury of having him on a near-redshirt this season.

these would be teams that already have an inside presence on defense, that want to play with a big man handling the ball, that can play fast enough and efficiently enough to absorb his turnovers, have established personalities that can withstand his own strong personality and are contenders or near contenders

I’ll hang up and listen

I think the mags will be better but not contenders and they are not a good fit either on the court or in the locker room, thus I am willing to bet anyone here a beer that they do not pursue cousins.

it’s counter intuitive that a talent of his magnitude would not be hotly pursued but I think that’s the reality

i was talking about Dallas and you are clearly agreeing with me that the market for boogie will be skinny

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That will work because New Orleans is such a destination free agent location with cap space.

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We're not talking about the FA market in general, we're talking about one very specific free agent who was considered a head case half the league wouldn't consider before having a potentially career threatening injury so he may not even get any offers from anyone from the Pels. If Los Angeles or Dallas do come calling they'll be on Plan D or E at least. Unless we're talking about this near the tail end of the first phase of FA and most of the big dominoes have already fallen, I wouldn't take any alleged offer from another team seriously.

if you believe the rumors Indiana (I think) offered more per year but only could offer 4 years

I gotcha. I never heard who they were.

Honestly, they have to give him the max at this point. I'm not a fan of his and all. But they gave the guy their word when they signed him. Loyalty is very important in the league. He could still be a very important asset down the road. So, I'd just give him the max. It will buy a lot of good will and it'll show the team stands behind their players..

As I've said before, i'll believe Cousins to Dallas is even a remote possibility when Carlisle says so. I find it comical that the two of them together is being thought of.

If Lebron goes to the Lakers, they aren't going to want Cousins, and if he does go there, they are getting Paul George too.
If he doesn't go there, I would imagine they are going to continue the slow build of young players like Boston has, and in time, they will be back near the top when they do get that big FA, which is inevitable.


Cousins is staying on the Pelicans. I don't think there are any true contenders to grab him from us, at least one that would offer near max money and years.

My hopes are that we can offer him a 3 year $75-80M contract with a player option the third year, anything less than that would make me very happy. They are going to sell him on the fact that AD makes $25M and so does Jrue, and you aren't making more than AD, which is something that was said to Jrue, even though he is making more than him at the moment, but won't next season.
If everything is fine with Cousins physically, then the 2+1 is the best contract he can get, b/c of opting out and getting a higher max going forward. If he isn't fine, then it simply sucks for him, and when I say that, I mean regardless of whatever contract he gets. Anyone that wants to bet on his recovery, given the history of the injury, would be dumb to give him a long term contract.

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will be interesting...dell needs to take advantage and protect the books

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Dell tends to negotiate against himself. Will be interesting to see if he can get a good deal.

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Not a fit on the court? I actually think Cousins fits better next to Embiid (Cousins doesn't want to play Center). Cousins is a great shooter for his size. Saric is price controlled for 3 more years. They need a major free agent to make a splash and they are already a top 3 team in the East. If Philly has the talent, money, market, staff and space.. but is not pursuing. What does that tell you?

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No team can reach out to anyone yet. Do you know that they will not reach out to Cousins? Maybe they are focused on other free agents (i.e Lebron).

When they traded for Cousins, they guaranteed him a max contract. That was after the Kings backed out of their offer. There was going to be a big bidding war and he couldn't resign, for the big contract, until aftet this season. There was an understanding that we would give him the biggest deal we could. If they back out now, he'll be slighted. He might have to take the lesser deal. But he won't be happy.