The most shocking move of last season's NBA trade deadline was probably the New Orleans Pelicans trading with the Sacramento Kings for star center DeMarcus Cousins.Though the move didn't pay off last year, as the Pelicans missed the playoffs, Cousins is still under contract for this season and will once again team up with superstar Anthony Davis to make a run at the postseason.The Pelicans re-signed point guard Jrue Holiday and added former Golden State guard Ian Clark and ex-Chicago Bull Rajon Rondo this offseason, but Cousins was hoping for some bigger-name help.Boogie recently told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he tried his best to recruit some more star players to New Orleans, but wasn't able to get the job done:

"We want to win," Cousins said. "We need as much talent and as many pieces as we can get. I've reached out to everybody. I mean, I don't want to throw names out there, but some of the biggest names that are on the block right now I've reached out to. It's just about being better. We see where the NBA is going, we need as much help and as much talent as we can get just to match up with the reigning champs. I'm just trying to better the situation. We're fully invested in this and we want to win."

Seeing as how Cousins is a free agent after this season and could be a trade candidate if the Pelicans struggle in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign, it's not surprising that the league's top free agents didn't want to head to the Big Easy.

However, Cousins told Yahoo! Sports that he's happy to be in New Orleans and is excited for the upcoming season:

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” Cousins said. “A lot of things happen in our lives, and we kind of think of it as a mistake or you know a bad time for us or you know some people call it adversity, whatever the case may be. But I think [the trade] happened for the right reason. I’m happy where I’m at.”

The Pelicans finished the 2016-17 season with an overall record of 34-48, missing out on the Western Conference playoffs by seven games.

Even with Cousins and Davis on board, the Pelicans will have their work cut out for them if they want to make the postseason this year, as several teams in the West have made big moves in free agency to try to keep up with the Golden State Warriors.