We gave a brief overview on the monumental trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans earlier on Monday. It's now time to really delve into the fantasy impact of this blockbuster deal, starting with a Kings squad that received Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and three draft picks in exchange for Cousins.
There's a whole lot to look at, so let's break it down by every player that's directly impacted by the trade.
Buddy Hield
Hield entered the 2017 NBA Draft as one of the best three-point shooter college basketball has seen in some time. The former Oklahoma standout averaged 25.0 points while shooting at an absurd 46 percent from three point range as a senior. This lead to unwarranted comparisons to Stephen Curry. In the end, Hield would go No. 6 overall to the Pelicans as they attempted to find an outside game to go with Anthony Davis.
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing for Hield in New Orleans prior to his trade to Sacramento. He was averaging less than nine points per game while shooting at a 39 percent clip from the field, including a solid 37 percent mark from distance. That's primarily where the one-dimensional player will earn his living in Sacramento, as a three-point shooter.
Look for Hield to potentially take over as the Kings' starting two guard out of the gate. The likes of Ben McLemore, Garrett Temple and Arron Afflalo have been sharing time at that position this season. Hield offers considerable more upgrade, and should see a ton of action now that the Kings have pretty much thrown in the towel for the 2016-17 season.
More than anything, from a dynasty standpoint, where going to want to see how Hield take on this new role. He will be tasked with scoring a lot more in California's capital city and it could be a segue to a larger offensive role. The same can be said within the DFS community, where Hield will become more relevant while offering a nice amount of value.
Tyreke Evans
With Matt Barnes waived to make room for this trade under the cap, there's now every reason to believe Evans will also be tasked with starting. Rudy Gay is on the shelf with a torn Achilles for the remainder of the season and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Sacramento attempt to trade Afflalo between now and Thursday's deadline.
An impending free agent, Evans spent the first four years of his career with the Kings, averaging a combined 17.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Finally healthy for the Pelicans prior to this trade, Evans struggled getting back into game shape. He was averaging 9.5 points while shooting at just a 40 percent clip from the field.
It will be interesting to see if a larger role and more floor time will help Evans improve statistically. More than anything, we're going to want to take a wait-and-see approach before even considering him a DFS option. Evans remains irrelevant outside of larger re-draft and dyno leagues.
Willie Cauley-Stein
It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Kings now rely on WCS to play more of a role on offense. Here's a former lottery pick that's averaging just 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in his second NBA season. Both numbers are down from what was a decent rookie season.
Even then, we simply don't have any evidence to suggest that Cauley-Stein can take on more of a role on offense. He wasn't tremendous on that end of the court at Kentucky and is likely nothing more than a defensive-minded big in the NBA. That's become more than apparent in his first two seasons with the Kings.
Kosta Koufos
Here's a guy that will definitely take on a larger role with Cousins out of the mix. Sacramento did not add another big in the trade, which means this center should see a nice uptick in production. He's started 48 of a possible 57 games this season, averaging 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per outing. He's also averaging just 19.1 minutes per game.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Koufos jump to nearly 30 minutes per game, bringing with him an average of a double-double in the process. Sacramento will need some sort of production from the inside, and Koufos is the only capable big to provide that moving forward this season.
Matt Barnes
Barnes is now free to sign wherever he wants. Despite off-court issues, he does bring some veteran capabilities to a potential contending team. It surely wouldn't be a surprise to see either the Warriors or Spurs add him to the mix here soon.
The 36-year-old forward is having a down season, averaging just 7.6 points to go with 5.5 rebounds while shooting at a 38 percent clip. Either way, he's not fantasy relevant.