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Now that Cousins is gone, the team can move forward and create a new identity. On a roster with a number of young players, it was obvious that they were playing on Cousins’ team, which didn’t happen to be a true “team basketball” style.
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However, he also averaged 20.3 field goal attempts and 10.0 free throw attempts per game, which is a testament to how much he had the ball in his hands. Averaging 27.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, he’s simply been one of the best frontcourt players in the NBA from a pure basketball sense.
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A full rebuildĬousins was having the best season of his career stats-wise for the Kings this season. Therefore, there’s a lot that can happen with that kind of room now that Boogie is gone. Matt Barnes was waived Tuesday and, if another team picks him up on the waiver wire, the Kings would not be responsible for his salary for the rest of this year or the $6.4 million he’s owed next year. If Gay were to decline the option, they’d be left with around $41 million to play with, thus creating the possibility of creating a quick turnaround. Therefore, there’d be a lot of room to sign a high-profile free agent or some mid-range talents who could come in and produce right away. Ridding themselves of Cousins’ hefty salary of $16,784,031 for next season, the Kings are in solid shape financially headed into next season.Ĭonsidering the fact that the salary cap is expected to be approximately $102 million next year, it’s important to note that if both Rudy Gay and Langston Galloway accept their player options (which isn’t expected for Gay), the total team salaries on the books would be $75,418,991. Now, a new culture begins in Sacramento without Cousins as the face of the roster, even considering the fact that he’s a top-15 player in the NBA.
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He’s also earned four disqualifications this year and 46 over his career, plus 11 total ejections.
His 19 technical fouls lead the NBA and he’s had at least 12 in each of his first seven seasons in the league. His on-court outbursts have also hurt the team. Therefore, ridding the locker room of a clearly divisive player will likely have positive effects in both the short run and the long run. Source: no one act moved Kings to deal Cousins, but yelling "F*** Golden State" at fans after Feb 5 win over GS was a factor. Kings television commentator Grant Napear added the following tidbit which further calls Cousins’ character into question. The fans in Sacramento are the best in the world and we are all committed to building a team that will continue to make Sacramento proud.”īy saying “character matters”, it was a clear indictment against Cousins. We thank DeMarcus for his contributions and wish him all the best in New Orleans. With the upcoming draft class set to be one of the strongest in a decade, this trade will allow us to build the depth needed for a talented and developing roster moving forward. “Winning begins with culture and character matters. “It was time for a change and I decided this was the best direction for the organization,” Divac said in the release. Shortly after the trade, general manager Vlade Divac offered the following statement to the media. Other than his technical foul issues on the court, whether it was clashing with team officials, coaches, or reporters, it seemed as though Cousins wasn’t going to change his ways. To say that Cousins was difficult to deal with off the court in Sacramento would be a massive understatement.