I appreciate your view but I guess I just see it from another angle. Above sounds like a bunch of excuses I hold players accountable for their own actions. Maybe if people throughout his basketball career held Cousins accountable for his actions instead of making excuses for him he wouldn't be this way.
Question for you Padrino would you rather see the Kings trade Cousins within the next two years or would you rather him make it to free agency and risk losing him for nothing? When the time comes for Cousins to sign a new contract with the Kings do you think he'll be loyal to this organization?
there's a difference between an excuse and an explanation. demarcus cousins is not a natural leader. he's just not. fans can wax all day about how much of a leader they believe he
should be, but it will never make it so. unlike many of those fans, however, i am wholly uninterested in the dogmatic view that simply because a player is unable to develop those qualities on his own, he will never be a winner and is never destined to break into the elite ranks of the nba. every franchise is responsible for nurturing the promising young talent on its roster, and this includes providing a stable environment and a model for leadership. the kings have simply failed in this area across the last decade, and that
includes their inability to hold cousins accountable for his actions...
i will steadfastly maintain that if the front office acquires complementary talent, if the coaching staff commits to a strong defensive culture, and if the roster executes effectively, then the kings can compete for a playoff spot with demarcus cousins at its core. as always, it's not rocket science: acquire superstar. develop superstar. surround superstar with complementary talent. play defense. win ball games. compete in the playoffs. it's worked for countless other organizations. why can't it work here? is it because of some liquid, ill-defined notion that "demarcus cousins can't win," as so many like to claim? or is it much more likely that the concrete failures and spiraling dysfunction that have characterized this organization across the last decade are responsible for the amateurism and underachievement on display year in and year out?
it's worth noting that the formula was just beginning to work in mike malone's second year, with some semblance of stability in sight, before the front office pulled the rug from beneath the team, and before george karl's divisive approach and all-offense-all-the-time strategy set this franchise's hopes for playoff contention back once again. it's also worth nothing that demarcus cousins is the
only superstar that's walked through the door since the kings traded for chris webber in 1998. if cuz is traded, a superstar's not coming back in the deal. it's then a hope-and-a-prayer that the young players and draft picks they'd receive in return develop into even half the talent that demarcus is. so maybe the kings should just try, ya know, acting like a normal franchise for a change? because you can ship demarcus out of town and not a dent will be made in the win/loss column if this franchise continues in its culture of instability and if it continues to ignore the defensive side of the ball. personally, i'd rather hold onto my superstar who's getting it
mostly right and fix everything else that's not, because big cuz certainly isn't
the problem with this franchise...
as for your question, i would obviously rather the kings trade cousins within the next two years than risk him departing in free agency at no return on investment. that said, in his most recent interview with carmichael dave, cousins made it clear once again that he wants to help return the kings to their former glory. he considers it a "personal vendetta" to do so. if vlade and his head coach of choice do their jobs well, and if the kings are able to make a legitimate playoff push inside of the next two years, then yes, i fully expect that demarcus would remain loyal to the organization and re-sign with the kings...
