DeMarcus Cousins Wanted Pelicans Return, Didn't Hear from Them in Free Agency

If the New Orleans Pelicans would have offered DeMarcus Cousins a contract, the four-time All-Star would have been happy to return to the organization.

In an article written for The Players' Tribune, Cousins noted the Pelicans never contacted him when free agency began in July:

"It was a lot of, We might be interested. We don’t know if it’s the right fit. All of a sudden, I wasn’t hearing from the Pelicans. I wasn’t hearing from no one. That was tough. We in a nasty business, at times. I don’t even say that in a good or bad way. It’s just no place to get too emotional. The facts are still the same. I was expecting to be back in New Orleans, and I was proud of what we were starting there."

Cousins noted after not hearing from the Pelicans, he decided to call Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers. 

"On God, Bob thought it was a prank," Cousins wrote. "He asked us like five times if we were being serious. I broke it down as clear as I could. I told him about the Pelicans and how nothing was making sense anymore. I told him it was like other teams were treating me like I didn’t have a career left after the injury."

After his discussions with the Warriors, Cousins signed a one-year deal worth $5.3 million to join the two-time defending NBA champions. 

Per Marc Stein of the New York Times, New Orleans did present Cousins with a two-year, $40 million contract offer at some point between the time he tore his Achilles—the Jan. 26 game against the Houston Rockets—and the end of the regular season. 

Myers told reporters on Monday that Cousins is "progressing well" in his rehab from the injury, but there is no set date for when he will return to action. 

In 48 games with the Pelicans last season, Cousins averaged 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per contest. The 28-year-old has averaged a double-double in six of his eight seasons in the NBA.