At this point, the Kings are in a bind. They are a small-market franchise, where superstar talents don't grow on trees. Cousins is one of the most skilled and physically imposing big men in the league. But the franchise has been terrible on the floor with him, failing to win more than 33 games in any season of his career.
So what do the Kings do with Boogie? He becomes a free agent at the end of next season, and conventional wisdom suggests he will want to play for a winner, which isn't Sacramento. The Kings could trade him. But well-behaved superstars in similar circumstances tend to draw only pennies on the dollar because the incumbent teams aren't dealing from a position of strength. And Cousins' trade value is lower than the traditional superstar. There's question around the league whether you can win with such a volatile personality.
The precedent to all of this is Rasheed Wallace. But while Cousins isn't the greatest teammate, Wallace was a wonderful teammate. And while Cousins' teams were mired in muck, Wallace's teams won, even through his temper tantrums on the floor. Wallace even went on to win a title with the 2004 Detroit Pistons, surrounded by strong veteran personalities in Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace.
The Kings are in a tough spot, but a lot of that is their own doing. Cousins certainly deserves blame, but so does a franchise that's been poorly run and mismanaged since drafting him out of Kentucky. The draft follies are endless. Taking Jimmer Fredette in 2011 with Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson on the board. Taking Nik Stauskas in 2014 with Rodney Hood and TJ Warren and Elfrid Payton available. The Kings have drafted poorly and changed coaches seemingly by the year.
Cousins has had little consistency and structure in his NBA life. And someone with his personality needs as much structure and consistency as possible. Cousins deserves to try his hand with a franchise that knows what it's doing. The Kings need to get what they can for him and move on.
It would be the best move for both sides. And it should be done before the boiling pot somehow spills over.
Could DeMarcus Cousins be suiting up for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017? (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DeMarcus Cousins to Los Angeles Lakers
The Sacramento Kings franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins continues to bring negative attention to one of the NBA's long-suffering franchises. Cousins is obviously not feeling the warm and fuzzies playing for a directionless franchise that changes head coaches more often than Taylor Swift changes boyfriends.
So the Cousins trade rumors won't stop, despite the franchise seemingly steadfast in building around him. The problem is, the Kings haven't executed a sound plan in doing so. The Minnesota Timberwolves, once at an equally putrid point, have seemed to do a proper build focusing around core young talent while continuously avoiding many pitfalls.
Cousins has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers for quite some time and the Lakers could give the Kings perhaps the best return on a trade. Sacramento would be wise to pry D'Angelo Russell from Los Angeles in any return and then focus on building around him.
The Lakers may be too giddy with the thoughts of Cousins and Brandon Ingram manning the paint to pass up on this deal.
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Cousins And Kings Need To Part Ways
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