In the weeks after DeMarcus Cousins' Achilles tendon tear on Jan. 26, there was a consensus around the league that the New Orleans Pelicans would offer Cousins a full five-year, maximum contract despite the injury -- or out least outbid (by a lot) what looked to be a limited pool of suitors for him. A small-market team desperate to win, with no cap space to replace Cousins, simply could not lose an undeniable talent for (almost) nothing.
As uncomfortable as it is to say, New Orleans' raging success in these playoffs has to change that calculus.