Cooler heads might prevail with the Sacramento Kings, but the Wizards should call them anyway and see what it would cost to take DeMarcus Cousins off their hands. On Sunday, Kings coach Paul Westphal issued a statement saying Cousins, a notorious hothead, was told not to come to the Kings’ home game against New Orleans because Cousins had demanded to be traded. Cousins’ agent, John Greig, told SI.com that his client had made no such demand, and team co-owner Joe Maloof told the Sacramento Bee that “we’re not trading him.”
But if Cousins does indeed want to go, he would be a good fit in Washington and worth the risk of his troubling track record.
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First, Cousins made his offseason home in D.C., where he got in shape for his second NBA season, in which he has increased his rebounds from 8.7 to 11.3 per game.
Second, Cousins is close with Wizards point guard John Wall, his teammate during one year at Kentucky. Wall has at least as good a chance of keeping Cousins in line as Cousins’ high school coach, whom the Kings hired last year (and who didn’t return this season).
Most of all, the Wizards have nothing to lose. A week into the season, their rebuild needs to be rethought, particularly the investment in Andray Blatche — who is scoring 12.4 points per game (compared with 16.8 last year) and shooting 36.8 percent — and center JaVale McGee, who is certain to be overpaid this summer.
McGee may average 13.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, but he struggles ceaselessly against top-tier centers. That’s what Cousins, if he can be corralled, has a chance to be. At some level, a theoretical swap of Blatche and/or McGee for Cousins may be no more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, but Wall needs to like where he’s sitting.
And as long as the Kings don’t ask for Wall — and perhaps Chris Singleton and Jan Vesely (assuming he plays someday) — the Wizards ought to explore what it would take to acquire Cousins and accelerate their stalled attempt at starting over.
– Craig Stouffer
