NBA Rumors: Should Demarcus Cousins be traded?
Demarcus cousins
The NBA season has only been on for about 11 games or so, but that has never stopped rumors from circulating. And one of the teams that seems to be in the midst of current trade rumors is the Sacramento Kings. Now this rumor was fueled by Kings minority owner, Shaquille O'Neal. Read what he had to say recently below.
"It’s been 10 years. It’s been a long time. They’re still a long time away,” O’Neal said. “I think they can [sneak into the West’s eighth seed], but it’s up to their leader, DeMarcus Cousins. You know, previous years, in the past, he’s made a lot of mistakes. He’s been hot-headed. He hasn’t shown great leadership qualities yet. He’s one of the best centers in the league — this cat can do a lot, [fellow TNT analyst] Kenny [Smith] — but you know, [TNT color commentator] Reggie [Miller] mentioned this. He’s a hot-head. He’s a hot-head.
So if they’re going to make a run, he’s going to have to be a leader,” he continued. “Great players do this. They perform like this, but they always keep people involved. If he can play like this and get the other guys to [perform with] him, then maybe they can sneak in. But he hasn’t shown me those leadership qualities yet. That’s why I’m hearing talk of, if things don’t start to become correct, then they may be looking to go in a different direction.”
Now if you check out the last part, that's where the rumors have begun fueling. Shaq states that it's possible that the Kings could start looking in a new direction, but should they?
The Kings have virtually gone nowhere throughout the duration of the Demarcus Cousins era. They haven't been to the playoffs, cannot find a right coach, and cannot control Cousins outbursts. It wouldn't be inconceivable to think that they would want to remove Cousins and star over.
The Kings were a perennial playoff team in the early 00s, but the Cousins era has not worked and they may have to move in another direction as Cousins can get a lot of value at this particular time.
Who knows if Shaq knows something concrete or is just speaking from his perspective, but regardless it may be time to move on from Cousins and trade him.
What do you think? Is Cousins on the trade block? Should he be traded? Comment your thoughts below and thanks for reading!
