Sacramento Kings: Can DeMarcus Cousins Ever Overcome Maturity Issues?

The Sacramento Kings have had to deal with outbursts by center DeMarcus Cousins since drafting him fifth overall two years ago. Not only has this been an issue, it continues to show that Cousins' maturity level is not what it should be, and it remains unknown if it will ever change for the better.

Unfortunately, Cousins may have taken things to an entirely new level in Sacramento by supposedly demanding a trade out of Sacramento after an argument with head coach Paul Westphal.

Cousins went to talk with Westphal about his role in the offense run by the Kings and that he was not happy about it. As a result, the Kings (Westphal) told Cousins to stay away from the team as he could have been a distraction. The interesting thing about this is that Kings General Manager Geoff Petrie and co-owner Joe Maloof said that Cousins will not be traded.

Looking back at his collegiate basketball career, Cousins, who spent only one year playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky under John Calipari, is not new to clashing with his coaches and being public about it. Cousins was seen yelling at Calipari at times and has since brought this baggage with him into the NBA—particularly into Sacramento.

On the basketball side of things, Cousins is one heck of a talent and will only become a better player as time goes along—that is the hope. Unfortunately, Westphal may be the one to go if things cannot be worked out, as Cousins is still a valuable piece to the future of the Sacramento Kings organization.

As the season moves along, it will be interesting to see how the Kings eventually bring Cousins back into the fold, even if they do decide to trade him if a great offer comes through. However, at this time things remain unclear on what direction the Kings will take on this issue.