by Charlie O. Mallonee

Should the Kings trade DeMarcus Cousins?

The simple answer is yes. The reasons why they should trade the talented All-Star center are much more complicated, but there is no doubt that the Kings should move Cousins now.

The first reason why the Kings should trade Cousins is that he does not want to be in Sacramento anymore. James Herbert from CBS Sports reports that Cousins requested a trade a month ago. That means he took some time after the season ended to evaluate the year and his 30 games under head coach George Karl. It appears Cousin’s conclusion is that things are not going to work out in Sacramento.

Who can blame him? In his five years in Sacramento, Cousins has played for two ownership groups, three general managers and five coaches. Until the current ownership group took over, there was great doubt about the Kings remaining in Sacramento. The circumstances of Cousins tenure have been the very definition of instability.

Adjusting to the NBA life is taxing on any young player. Playing in a completely dysfunctional atmosphere might be a burden that is too much to bear for the 25-year Cousins.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers want Cousins and are trying to negotiate a deal that would include the Orlando Magic along with the Kings. Vlade Divac, vice-president of basketball and franchise operations, immediately denied that the Kings were giving any consideration to trading their All-Star center.

Now, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports is reporting that George Karl wants to trade Cousins. Per the reports, Karl does not feel that he and Cousins meshed during the 30 game honeymoon period at the end of the season. Karl said some nice things about Cousins during the season. The head coach has not had anything to say about his center lately.

If the situation was not confusing enough, Chris Broussard of ESPN is reporting that Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive is blocking any move that would send Cousins to another team.

Let’s deal with the Ranadive story first. It was Ranadive who reportedly disliked Michael Malone’s style of play and pushed for him to be fired. Cousins had built a strong relationship with Malone and was responding to him as a leader. Cousins’ attitude changed almost immediately following the firing of Malone, and the change was not for the better.

Ranadive has made other unusual personnel decisions since becoming the owner. He hired Malone as coach before he hired a general manager. Ranadive then hired Pete D’Alessandro as general manager. According to multiple reports, Malone and D’Alessandro were at odds over basketball philosophy and “style of play” from the very beginning of their working relationship.

Ranadive may be a genius when it comes to running high tech companies, but his decision making process as a NBA owner has been dubious. It has become very clear that Ranadive needs to let his experts – Divac and Karl – do their jobs and allow them to make the tough decisions that will build a solid foundation for the Kings in years to come.

Karl – at the request of Ranadive – is trying to install a fast moving, positionless style of play. Cousins appears to more comfortable in a hard hitting defensive game with a set offense style of play. Frankly, Cousins would be more accepting of a change of playing style if he was happy in his situation.

Let’s be clear. Cousins is not happy being in a unstable situation that has been in a rebuilding mode for all of his five seasons with the team. The chances of getting him to be happy with the current changes are “slim-to-none”.

Cousins is an All-Star now. He is a premier player in “the association”. Cousins knows he can begin to dictate the way he wants his career to go from this point forward. Apparently, Cousins wants his career to continue in some other locale.

Why should the KIngs make a move now? Because Cousins value is as high as it has ever been. He is an All-Star and a member the USA National team. By all appearances, he is healthy. Cousins stock may never be higher.

The Kings do not want to have to move him after a season of turmoil under a coach Cousins does not want play for and after his attitude becomes a major problem. If the Kings wait until the situation really deteriorates, they will only get fifty-cents on the dollar for an incredibly talented basketball asset. Sacramento cannot allow themselves to squander their future by trying to make an unhappy player, happy again.

What should the Kings ask for in return for Cousins? I will leave the details up to Vlade Divac, George Karl and the basketball operations staff of the Kings. By the way, Vivek Ranadive should get out of the way and do the same.

Quoting CSN Kings Insider Bill Herenda, “The NBA is a fickle business and chemistry is extremely fragile.” The current situation with the Sacramento Kings certainly proves that statement to be true.