Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins: ‘I love what we’re doing’
The Sacramento Kings have been highly criticized this offseason.
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Although they met their goal of retaining forward Rudy Gay, who they traded for back in December (The Kings dealt swingman John Salmons, point guard Greivis Vasquez, power forward Patrick Patterson and power forward Chuck Hayes to the Toronto Raptors for Gay, center Aaron Gray and forward Quincy Acy), when he decided not to opt out of his contract and put free agency on hold for a year, they have made a few questionable moves. They signed Los Angeles Clippers’ reserve Darren Collison to a three-year, $16 million deal. They then dealt Isaiah Thomas and his new, very reasonable four-year, $27 million contract, to the Phoenix Suns is a sign-and-trade.
However, center DeMarcus Cousins has been pleased with what the Kings are doing.
“I love what we’re doing. Love what we’re doing,” Cousins told Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. “[GM] Pete [D’Alessandro], he’s real aggressive, going after stuff, trying for players we probably have no chance at getting. One of these times we’re going to get lucky, and in the past we wouldn’t do that. Do you know how good that feels? Since [owner] Vivek [Ranadive], Pete, [coach] Michael [Malone], Mullie [team adviser Chris Mullin], [director of pro personnel] Mitch [Richmond] and those guys walked through the [expletive] door, things have been on the rise. I am totally behind it. Michael is like me; he sees everything in black-and-white. I love the fact Pete keeps trying stuff. I am totally behind all this. Rudy [Gay], the [Darren] Collison move, thinking Omri [Casspi] can stretch the floor. And the rookie, that kid [Nik] Stauskas can really play. He makes the game easy and has an impact even when he’s not scoring. I am so happy to be a part of this, of what we’re doing.”
The Kings are also expected to make another move.
Cousins averaged 22.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field and 72.6% from the free throw line.