Former NBA star DeMarcus Cousins raised plenty of eyebrows with his antics on the court and is now doing so off it as well. Cousins appeared on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back, where he dished out a series of hot takes. One of them was that the Dallas Mavericks should trade the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft for Kevin Durant.
“Kevin Durant wouldn’t be a bad move either with that No. 1 pick,” Cousins said.
In response, co-host Michelle Beadle suggested that trading away a pick with which you can select Cooper Flagg for a 37-year-old Durant might not be a great idea. Cousins, though, had an explanation for why Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison would make the move.
“Nico’s already on record saying it’s a three-year window as far as winning the championship,” Cousins stated. “So, Cooper Flagg doesn’t fit that window. A Kevin Durant does, so I absolutely think he’ll trade that No. 1 pick. I think that’s an option for him.”
The Mavericks have not openly spoken about their intentions with that pick, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be trading it. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that the team plans to draft Flagg and won’t part with the pick. Cousins wouldn’t be a fan of either of those two decisions, as he stated that Ace Bailey should be the first pick.
“I like Ace Bailey,” Cousins said. “To me, Ace Bailey is the No. 1 pick… I think he’s the closest thing we’ve seen to be a Tracy McGrady.”
Cousins will struggle to find too many who agree with him that Bailey should go above Flagg. The former Duke star has been the consensus No. 1 pick for quite some time now. As for the Tracy McGrady comment, Bailey’s former Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper made that exact same comparison, so that’s not quite as outrageous.
As if these takes weren’t questionable enough, Cousins had another one about two former Mavericks earlier in the episode. When asked if he’d rather have Luka Doncic or Jalen Brunson right now, he surprisingly went with the latter.
“I’ma take Jalen Brunson because he’s still playing, that’s obvious,” Cousins stated. “One guy is at home and one guy is playing, so I’m taking Brunson.”
“We’re not talking who’s the best overall talent,” Cousins added. “If we’re talking about who’s the best overall talent, yeah, we can go with Luka. But as of right now, I’ma take the guy who’s still active in the playoffs.”
That’s some interesting logic. This isn’t the first time that Cousins has delivered an absurd take regarding the newest Los Angeles Lakers star. Back in April, Cousins suggested Harrison was right to trade Doncic.
That was on the back of the Minnesota Timberwolves beating the Lakers in Game 1 in the first round of the playoffs. The Timberwolves would end up knocking out the Lakers in five games, but you still wouldn’t call Harrison’s decision to trade Doncic the right one.
Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2024-25. The Slovenian remains a top-five player in the NBA, and Brunson has some work to do before he enters that conversation. Helping the New York Knicks win an NBA championship this year would be a great start.
