This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Wednesday night, before the Sacramento Kings defeated the Utah Jazz, DeMarcus Cousins posed for pictures with a young fan in the tunnels of Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Cousins shook hands, signed an autograph and made the fan's night. He was warm and engaging. His smile seemed never-ending. Unwittingly, he highlighted the conundrum that is himself.
By all accounts, Cousins is one of the most giving players in the NBA when it comes to community service. And he does it without much fanfare. But on the floor and sometimes off it as well, Cousins is a handful for the Kings.
Cousins was fined this week by the NBA for confronting a Sacramento Bee reporter in the locker room, after he stood toe-to-toe with the scribe and shouted obscenities over an unfavorable column. On Tuesday night, Cousins spit his mouthpiece toward the Portland Trail Blazers' bench, and was ejected for a few minutes before his second technical foul was rescinded. His antics, however, overshadowed a wonderful 55-point performance.
Cousins is leading the NBA in technical fouls. His scowls toward officials and teammates, and his negative body language on the floor, have been well-documented.
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.
Twitter: @tribjazz NBA Power Rankings
1. Golden State Warriors • Spanked the Jazz this week in what was supposed to be a test.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers • Lost J.R. Smith to a thumb injury for a significant period of time ahead of Sunday's game with the Warriors.
3. San Antonio Spurs • Tony Parker is a legendary guard for the franchise, but it now looks like he's on his last legs.
4. Houston Rockets • Lost starting center Clint Capela for a month, a killer blow for a team enjoying a resurgent season.
5. Toronto Raptors • Despite playing all summer on the Olympic team, Kyle Lowry is having a great December.
6. Los Angeles Clippers • Beating San Antonio this week was a big deal for them, with the Blake Griffin news and whatnot.
7. Boston Celtics • Playing their best stretch of basketball so far this season and starting to be what we thought they would this year.
8. Memphis Grizzlies • Marc Gasol is making a case to be in the Most Valuable Player consideration.
9. Utah Jazz • Tremendous road win against the Grizzlies was undone after losses to Warriors, Kings (ugh) and Raptors.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder • Almost New Year's Day, and Russell Westbrook is still averaging a triple-double.
11. Charlotte Hornets • A 4-1 record in their division looms large later this season if tiebreakers come into play.
12. New York Knicks • Carmelo Anthony takes the high road after being eviscerated by George Karl in book.
13. Chicago Bulls • Searching for answers through the mediocrity that leaves them right at the break-even mark.
14. Milwaukee Bucks • Two competitive and entertaining losses to Cleveland; are still in good shape.
15. Indiana Pacers • They are a good home team. They are also a bad road team.
16. Atlanta Hawks • Will former Jazzman Paul Millsap opt out and become a free agent this summer?
17. Washington Wizards • Playing best stretch of ball this season and climbing toward respectability.
18. Portland Trail Blazers • Surrendered 135 points to Golden State. Have slipped under the .500 mark this week.
19. Sacramento Kings • Boogie Cousins was fined, but team playing better — especially in Wednesday's win over Utah.
20. Denver Nuggets • One of three teams tied for the eighth spot in the Western Conference heading into Friday night.
21. Orlando Magic • You may not have noticed, but they're only two games out of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
22. Detroit Pistons • Had a team meeting after recent loss, no matter what Stan Van Gundy's thoughts were.
23. Miami Heat • Getting Justice Winslow back from injury is a big deal for a team still among worst in East.
24. Los Angeles Lakers • The bottom has fallen out after an encouraging start for Luke Walton's team.
25. New Orleans Pelicans • Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday being superb still simply is not enough to win games.
26. Dallas Mavericks • Starting to wake up a bit, including a competitive loss at the buzzer to the Jazz last week.
27. Minnesota Timberwolves • Still languishing at bottom of Northwest Division, but has been playing better.
28. Phoenix Suns • Have only won three of 18 games against Western Conference opponents so far this season.
29. Brooklyn Nets • Starting to regress to the mean that was projected by everybody in the preseason.
30. Philadelphia 76ers • Nerlens Noel wants more playing time, and he had no problem saying so.