Kings' Moves Setting Table for DeMarcus Cousins to Demand Escape

Once upon a time there was a talented young big man who made his way to Northern California. He came from a big-time college program and arrived, arguably, with a bigger presence than anyone or anything attached to the NBA team he was joining. He was wildly talented, able to handle the ball far better than a big man should. He also was precocious and temperamental and didn't see eye-to-eye with everyone in the organization.

The organization made decisions and set priorities that eventually made the young big man question if it truly had his best interests at heart. Ultimately, he decided he'd be better off somewhere else.

That is a synopsis of Chris Webber's time with the Golden State Warriors. It's also quickly becoming the saga of DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings.

If Cousins sounded slightly deranged after slipping past the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, sources said it's because he is trying to wrap his head around the fact that the Kings are intent on hiring George Karl to replace Tyrone Corbin as their head coach.

This is not Cousins being angry because he doesn't like Karl. Did you hear anger in his voice when he cryptically asked reporters, "How you going to stop God's plan?" No, you heard confusion and puzzlement because this is the same Karl who, Cousins was told earlier in the season, would not be the right coach for him, a source said.

Forget the semantics over when, or even if, Karl is hired. Cousins has been told it's what the Kings want to do after being told it wasn't, which raises a serious question: How much does owner Vivek Ranadive really value Cousins?

After all, team and league sources say Cousins made it clear he didn't want Mike Malone fired with the Kings 11-13 and murmurs of Cousins being an MVP candidate before he contracted viral meningitis. Ranadive, a source says, told Cousins he had to do it because Malone didn't get along with GM Pete D'Alessandro and had been insubordinate by missing a meeting.

Cousins, not wanting to concede the season, asked that they hire a veteran head coach with former Warriors coach Mark Jackson as his preference. Karl, in part because he worked with D'Alessandro in Denver, in part because of Ranadive's infatuation with uptempo offense, also emerged as a possibility.

Ranadive was convinced by his basketball staff, sources say, not to make another move and find the right fit at the end of the season. That was relayed to Cousins, with the promise that he, as the team's franchise player, would be consulted on whatever they did in the future.

In light of all that, the storyline that D'Alessandro pushed the agenda to hire Karl now and Ranadive had to be convinced to do so is hard to fathom. Ranadive, all of a sudden, is the one advocating stability? Ranadive, who expected his team to be a legitimate playoff contender even with Cousins out, has to be persuaded to make the quick fix to get a few more wins? The same Ranadive who bounced Malone 24 games into the season because he didn't like how he was winning?

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Again, none of that really matters. Cousins took the blame for Paul Westphal being fired, even though he insists he never asked for it. Some questioned how he'd take to a no-nonsense, defensive-oriented coach in Malone, expecting that Cousins was too immature; yet Cousins not only helped make it work, he flourished under Malone. He kept his mouth shut and made Team USA, bringing a much-needed, and long-missing, shine to the franchise. He followed that with a start so strong it earned him an All-Star berth in spite of his illness and the team's woeful record.

Rocky Widner/Getty Images

In appreciation for all that, the Kings have allowed what started out as a promising step in the right direction to become a drunken stumble. Just like another team did a little farther south. Cousins deserves better. Don't blame him if he seeks it elsewhere. After all, he wouldn't be the first.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.