NBA Rumors: Sacramento Kings Are Foolish to Hold on to DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings came out and said that they will not trade disgruntled center DeMarcus Cousins, but that decision is just foolish. This was after rumors emerged that he wanted to be traded and the Kings originally decided to sit Cousins and keep him out of action. 

It is nice to see a team put their foot down on a players demands, but if the Kings were smart, they would have explored a trade for the young center.

While the Kings could have totally shut down Cousins for his ridiculous behavior, they decided that they might as well play him. We will have to see how that turns out between him, his teammates and the fans.

What is the point in keeping someone around that doesn't want to be there? The Kings are essentially keeping around a player who has made it clear that he doesn't intend on staying around for the long-run.

Cousins proved last season that he could be a serious force in this league, and while the Kings would hate to move a player like that, they could certainly get a lot in return.

In 2010-11, Cousins averaged 14.1 points per game while grabbing 8.7 rebounds.

Teams that are in need of a big man, such as the Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets, would certainly be interested in making a move for a player with as much potential as Cousins.

One could argue that the Kings would be better off keeping Cousins in terms of his potential, but who knows how this whole situation will end.

If he continues to be disgruntled, the team will really have no other choice than to trade him. Otherwise, there really is no point in keeping someone around that is going to diminish the chemistry of your team.

It isn't clear what the real situation is, as Cousins has recently stated that he never demanded to be traded. Despite his claim, it is hard to imagine that he didn't after they initially benched him.

Now the Kings just have a mess all over their hands, and they will have to figure out their next steps. Even if the team has said they have no intentions of trading him, the right price can always change their mind.

Perhaps the Kings are just playing strategy with their assets, increasing the demand of the second-year Kentucky-product to make teams hand over much more than they would have received otherwise.

If they continue to hold out, though, this situation can just go from bad to worse. When Cousins entered last night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, he was booed by the Sacramento crowd.

Cousins clearly made a mistake in demanding a trade, and allowing that information to be attained publicly. Now the Kings have to clean up this situation before they continue to hold on to a player that is just going to continue to diminish his value by sticking around somewhere he doesn't want to be.

There was a lot of promise when the Kings drafted him, but they would be smart to just move on. Clearly, he isn't what they need around, and they can really help their organization by ridding themselves of the potential cancer that he is.

It will remain to be seen if the both parties will allow the situation to just disappear, but for the time being, this will remain to be an issue for the Kings' organization. 

Hopefully for both the team and its fans, they will figure out what direction they want to go in.