Despite Talent, DeMarcus Cousins' Volatility Makes for a Risky Building Block
With news reports swirling that the Sacramento Kings are looking into trading DeMarcus Cousins, the key question goes beyond how much the team might demand in exchange for him.
The critical issue is personal.
Is Cousins' problem simple immaturity—or is it deep-seated impudence, which is much more likely a fatal flaw?
That's the question every club, including the Kings, is asking.
In other words: How bad of a guy is he, and how much better a guy could he be with a trustworthy circle around him?
There is no simple answer in large part because everybody in Sacramento is to blame for why Cousins and the Kings are at this impasse. That includes Kings coach George Karl, who went in just four months ago knowing he'd butt heads with Cousins initially, but hoped he'd eventually befriend him the way he did Gary Payton.
It's already fair to wonder if Karl, 64, has the management sophistication to suppress his ego and understand Cousins.
As good as Karl is at drawing up plays, the snake-in-the-grass references and multiple reports he is longing for his Denver personnel only serve to recall how Karl's relationship with Ray Allen soured before Karl backed Allen's trade from Milwaukee to Seattle…so Karl could reunite with Payton from his Seattle days.
It's also fair—and far more relevant when you consider the impact he might have if traded—to speculate about Cousins' fault in the matter.
It is indeed possible that Cousins, 24, has already been revealed to be an overly emotional, selfish know-it-all. And if you're going to hand a bag of assets over to the Kings—and trash your previous plan for rebuilding—to acquire Cousins, you'd better be sure that he isn't so bad.
But there's really no telling right now.
The intensity is good. A big man bringing such passion to the court is invaluable. The skills are also undeniable. Although he finished last season with those 4.3 turnovers per game that Karl condemns and doesn't consistently show enough effort on defense, Cousins might still be the second-best center in the NBA.
Yet so much of what Cousins does is misdirected. He mixes it up with opponents or referees in a manner that detracts rather than galvanizes. His anger often triggers losses of concentration rather than periods of heightened focus.
And when a guy can't control himself, it's hard for anyone with him to believe he should be the one in control of the team.
That's who Cousins is, at least at 24. That's certainly still young enough to hope he will be more, and it's encouraging that he fell in line with USA Basketball last summer and earned respect in doing so.
But some of the guys coming into the league this week—some of whom are being offered in trade packages for Cousins—are 19, and they already have more poise.
Cousins was also 19 when he entered the NBA. Five years as a professional haven't brought him to any solid footing, even though his production has increased.
After three years, he felt comfortable in Sacramento and committed to the organization by signing a new contract in September 2013. Less than two years later, his management team has him asking out via trade, according to Sacramento radio personality Carmichael Dave, even though, by all accounts, Cousins still loves the town and the fans.
If this is starting to sound like the Dwightmare in Orlando, that's because this is how it goes when a guy believes the world revolves around him. He gets confused, conflicted and frustrated when things don't go his way. What he should do is focus his efforts on improving his situation instead of blaming others.
Does Cousins gain that focus if he gets a fresh start elsewhere?
Well, it's not as if Cousins will be solely to blame for it not working in Sacramento. He can point to the lack of support to explain why he wasn't more stable for the Kings—a possibility that would allow him to go somewhere else without having to acknowledge that he must be more stable for his new team.
Yet there is a chance that he feels there is something to prove in a fundamental sense.
Cousins is undeniably driven, and if he's hell-bent on showing Sacramento everything it will miss out on, that could lead the bull to leave all his fighters behind and make the NBA his personal china shop.
The specter of that has NBA general managers hoping Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and new vice president Vlade Divac grow sick of the DMC circus.
For now, Divac told the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin that a Cousins trade "is not happening. I don't care what the agents or the media people are saying. I don't know why we are wasting time talking about something that is not going to happen."
With that, it remains Sacramento's problem to solve for the time being.
It's really the same problem, though, whether it's in house or all over the market:
How do you help Cousins grow up?
You don't…unless he wants to.
Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
