What's truly instructive about all this is not what Danny thought. It's that with 29 other teams potentially in the bidding, nearly all of whom could use a player with Cousins' talent, the best offer was one semi-promising rookie, a late first-round pick and some other odds and ends.
That's the market consensus on his value right there. It's not because of his numbers, which are about the best in the league, so it must be the attitude/locker room issues. I've seen no other plausible explanation. (The "rental" story is overblown given the length of his contract, and even there, that is an incredibly low price for a 1.5 year rental of an MVP-level talent. What would teams give up for 1.5 years of Kevin Durant or James Harden, particularly with a fair shot at re-signing them anyway?).
Not a single team thought his talent justified beating the NOP offer in light of the other concerns. It doesn't mean the trade will end up being wise for the Pelicans, but it speaks volumes about the perception of Cousins around the league, among those with true insider information.