NBA Rumors: DeMarcus Cousins’ moodiness puts him on the trading block
By John Buhler
DeMarcus Cousins’ antics have apparently been getting the worst of his Sacramento Kings’ teammates, as his moodiness now has him on the trading block.
Could the DeMarcus Cousins era of Sacramento Kings basketball be rapidly coming to an end. While the Kings have put up with the antics of Cousins for his entire six-year NBA career, it seems that general manager Vlade Divac has about had enough of Cousins’ distractions and may look to cut bait with the Kings’ All-Star center.
According to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee, “Divac is tempted by the prospect of pairing his center with his personally selected coach but has become increasingly frustrated by his center’s on going issues and, for the first time, is willing to test the market for the two-time All-Star.”
Voisin would add that it isn’t just management that has concerns about Cousins. “Apart from [Rajon] Rondo, Cousins has few friends among his teammates. Several players have privately complained to management about his mood swings and disrespect for those around him.”
Cousins’ clear talent reigned supreme for the last several years in Northern California, but the Kings aren’t fighting for playoff contention, he’s garnered a reputation as being somewhat of a coach killer, and now he doesn’t seem to have the command of the locker room as the face of the Kings franchise.
Sacramento is undergoing a rebranding effort for when they hit brand new Golden 1 Center in Downtown Sacramento next season. The Kings have gone with a new logo and will have a new head coach to replace the departed George Karl, so it could be the right time for the Kings to cut ties with Cousins for a truly fresh start in 2016-17.
Cousins has two more years left on his current Kings contract and Sacramento should understand that he could very well walk away in NBA free agency in a few years with the Kings getting absolutely nothing in return. Sacramento may want to start taking the direction of their NBA franchise seriously. Is trading Cousins the first step in achieving relevancy or do the Kings need to address other massive organizational problems first?
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