Report: Kings considering trading DeMarcus Cousins
Another day, another rumbling in Sacramento, where the Kings are frantically trying to find a way to bleed anything but disappointment out of a reasonably talented and hugely dysfunctional roster.
Per usual, this endeavor centers around DeMarcus Cousins. And with the franchise parting ways with George Karl earlier in the month, a new question looms: is Cousins next?
It's possible, per the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin, who reported Friday that the general notion filtering throughout the franchise is that Kings general manager Vlade Divac is fed up with the center's erratic mood swings and is tempted to entertain trade offers for Cousins in the offseason:
"The sense within the organization is Divac is tempted by the prospect of pairing his center with his personally selected coach but that he has become increasingly frustrated by his center's ongoing issues and, for the first time, is willing to test the market for the two-time All-Star."
The disconnect between Karl and Divac, and Karl and Cousins, is rivaled closely by the discord within the fragmented locker room. Apart from Rondo, Cousins has few friends among his teammates. Several players privately have complained to management about his mood swings and disrespect for those around him, including his coaches and in particular Karl.
So, not exactly a nuclear surprise there.
The Kings have tried to make the Cousins experiment work. They've attempted to build around the franchise center and supply him with a supporting cast capable of at least poking its nose into the Western Conference Playoffs. But they've fallen horribly short, and with the opening of the brand-spanking new Golden 1 Center in October, there seems to be additional pressure to fill their plush new venue with a product better than liquid garbage.
So the Cousins rumors will continue to swirl and pick up as the summer trade deadline nears. The real question is, who would bring in Cousins, who once again led the league in technical fouls for the regular season with 17, and risk team chemistry with the prospect of emotional implosion.
There wouldn't be a shortage of suitors for Cousins if the Kings placed him on the block. Then again, the guy has a reputation that, at this point, has been turned into a verb.
I mean, Drake wasn't picking names out of a hat when he wrote the lines "I'm not your guy, I'm not your buddy. I might go DeMarcus Cousins out in public."
Just saying.
Dan is on Twitter. What the Kings need is a real locker room jeller like Earl Joseph Smith.
