How Sacramento Kings Should Handle DeMarcus Cousins' Contract Situation

Unless the Sacramento Kings sign center DeMarcus Cousins to an extension prior to the Nov. 1 deadline, the 23-year-old will be a restricted free agent following the 2013-14 season. And with DMC being the team's best player, handling the situation properly is of the utmost importance. 

Cousins, now entering his fourth NBA season, is an incredibly talented player. In fact, in terms of raw skill there aren't many, if any, centers that can boast his package of size, strength, quickness, dribbling ability and shooting range. On ability alone, signing the center is a no-brainer. 

But while his capabilities are unquestioned, there are concerns involving Cousins' maturity and his capacity to deal with adversity, which may prevent him from becoming the franchise-type player his skills would allow. 

This has left the Kings in a quandary. Should they try and lock him up prior to the season, or should the team wait until after the season to address the demonstrative center's contract situation? That's a difficult question to answer, but ultimately, Sacramento would be better off waiting until after the campaign to approach the dilemma, and here's why.

They Can See How Cousins Responds

If the Kings sign Cousins to the extension prior to the season, they've basically removed any outside incentive for him to improve his attitude and consistency. He'll have made his money and he'd be locked in for the next few years. At that point, the only thing driving him to progress would be himself. 

Yet if the team goes into the season without giving him his contract, he'd have a legitimate reason to demonstrate his ability to grow as a person. He could show more consistency, both in his capacity to produce on-court nightly and to keep his emotions in check.

Now, maybe DMC is the type of person that doesn't need external motivation. Perhaps he has enough pride to take it upon himself to make the necessary adjustments in disposition. People develop at different rates, and it could just be that Cousins is a late bloomer in this regard. But what if he isn't? What if he's destined to be an ultra-talented headache for the duration of his career?

By not showing him the money before the year commences, the Kings would have more time to answer these questions. They could see how he responds to what would likely be a disappointment for the center. 

If he responds by using it as a catalyst to spur his development as a person and player, then Sacramento knows he's more than capable of maximizing his immense talents. However, supposing it makes him go the other direction and causes a backlash against the organization, the Kings could determine he's not proficient enough to make those changes, meaning he's unlikely to become the player his capabilities allow.

At least this way the team gets a long look at the inner workings of Cousins' brain, which could be an invaluable experience when making an investment of this magnitude. 

No Cousins Is Better Than a Disengaged Cousins

If the Kings sign Cousins before the season, the ship has sailed. He's locked in. If Cousins responds the way the organization hopes, that's not a big deal. In fact, it'd be an excellent development. But assuming it goes the other way—with the center emotionally unstable and his long-term development unpredictable—Sacramento has a serious problem.

Sure, Cousins is talented and young enough to where the Kings could trade him. With a player of that caliber, there will always be franchises out there who think: "We can turn this guy around. He just wasn't handled right. We'll maximize his potential."

So trading him wouldn't be an issue, but getting a good return on the trade would. Sacramento's hands would be tied and there'd be no logical motivation for another team to provide equal value. The Kings could either hold onto the potentially cancerous Cousins or trade him for pennies on the dollar. Those would essentially be the only two options.

With that being the case, the team would be better off having no Cousins than a disengaged Cousins. Sure, he's a transcendental talent that could help virtually any team when he's right.

At the same time, the Kings can't allow any single player, regardless of their skills, to hijack the organization. And that's what would happen if things went sour.

If Sacramento doesn't think Cousins will ever become the long-term cornerstone it envisions, then the team is better off either trading him during the upcoming season or cutting its losses and letting him leave via free agency.

Losing a player of his caliber would hurt and could set things back for a year or two. But invest a max contract into him and it goes south, then you're set back for three or four years. A huge amount of money and cap space would be locked in and any trade would necessitate the team taking back similar salary. No swap would leave the Kings with no maneuverability and a destructive liability on their hands. 

There's Literally No Downside in Waiting

Regardless of whether or not they give Cousins an extension before the deadline, the Kings will be able to keep him. As a restricted free agent, Sacramento can match any offer he receives. 

A player of his caliber is sure to draw plenty of interest on the open market. So much so, that a max contract is seemingly inevitable for the 23-year-old. Yet even in that situation, Sacramento has the requisite cap space to match it. 

Besides, nothing he could possibly do this season could raise that bar on a potential contract. It's not like this is the NFL, where Joe Flacco can nearly double his earning power with one run to the Super Bowl.

In the NBA, max contracts are max contracts. So even if Cousins averages 30 points, 17 rebounds, four blocked shots and shoots 65 percent from the field (which he won't), he's still getting the same money. Signing him now doesn't preclude the possibility of him cashing in after a huge contract year. Regardless, Cousins is getting paid. But the NBA salary cap is structured so there are limitations to how much he can get.

Therefore, depending on how they approach it, the Kings have plenty of leverage in the situation. By going into it with an open mind, meaning they'll wait and see how the year plays out for Cousins, there's not much to lose. 

If he finally starts showing a reversal in his previous ways, Sacramento can match any offer he receives. There'd still be the possibility of him becoming complacent once he got his deal, but at least this way there'd be evidence that Cousins is able to keep himself in check. That alone would be a promising sign. 

Not giving him the extension could anger Cousins and cause his behavior to be even worse. But in that situation, the Kings wouldn't have invested anything in keeping him beyond the season. They could just cut their losses. 

It would be one thing if Sacramento was closer to contention or a playoff-caliber team. If that were the case, losing a player of Cousins' ability could prove disastrous to the organization's future. At this point, the Kings have nothing to lose. They can go from the lottery to the lottery.

Yes, it would be a disappointment, as DMC is seemingly the player they want to build around. And losing him would virtually assure even more seasons of watching the playoffs from home.  However, the team would still have cap flexibility and it would have rid itself of a hindrance that was more of a problem than a solution. 

The Bottom Line

All Kings fans want to see things turn out well between the team and Cousins. The guy is immensely talented, and it could be years until Sacramento gets another player of his caliber. 

At the same time, what Vivek Ranadive (the team's owner) and Co. are trying to build is much bigger than one player. It has to be. And succumbing to the pressure would send the wrong message. 

Sacramento should wait until after the season to address Cousins' contract. It's taken a lot of patience to deal with so many years of losing. Now on the precipice of potentially turning it around, there's no sense in making a knee-jerk reaction. 

See how the year plays out. Gather evidence. Then make an educated decision. The ball is in the Kings' court. With the ability to retain him by matching any offer, there's no sense in acting now. They couldn't possibly alienate him any more than he already is. But what it might do is finally light a fire under Cousins. 

And that, my friends, is what we've all been waiting to see. 

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