Kings trade Cousins

NEW ORLEANS — DeMarcus Cousins is sticking around New Orleans to help the Pelicans make a 25-game push for the playoffs — and a possible first-round matchup against the Warriors.

The Pelicans agreed to acquire Cousins from Sacramento on Sunday, the same night the center was playing in the All-Star Game in their arena.

The Kings dealt Cousins and Omri Casspi to New Orleans in exchange for Tyreke Evans, 2016 first-round draft pick Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and first- and second-round draft picks.

The trade was widely reported, but had not been announced by either team.

The deal pairs the 6foot-11 Cousins, a frontcourt All-Star from nearby Mobile, Alabama, with the 6-11 Anthony Davis, who on Sunday night was the All-Star Game MVP.

New Orleans (23-34) went into the All-Star break 2 ½ games behind Denver for the eighth and final playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

Cousins, like Davis a former collegiate star at Kentucky, is averaging 27.8 points and 10.6 rebounds. While Davis said after the All-Star Game that he wasn’t aware of an impending trade, he said he admired Cousins as a player.

“He’s a great player, dominant in this league, of course, with all the numbers he puts up,” Davis said. “Of course, DeMarcus is an elite player in this league.”

But the Kings decided to move on without him, having not made the playoffs since taking Cousins with the No. 5 pick in the 2010 draft. They have not reached the playoffs since 2006.