Cousins demanded a trade(Other fans: Stop proposing trades)

[The Beam King]

A very good player can thrive in any offense. Cousins is a big man that should be shooting 55%+ and instead he shot 43% all of last year. Was that the coach's fault also? He's struggling and so now he's trying to blame someone else for his struggles. Cousins needs to be on a team with strong veterans that can whip his ass. The Celtics, the Heat, etc. would be good locations. The Rockets might also work as McHale could demand respect.

From a 7 year all-star vet sure. From a 20 year old 2nd year player still finding their way in the league, I entirely disagree.

[SacKingZZZ]

I'd like to think that you're right and that this will all work out.

I think it will. We just don't know all the facts, we do know Westphal pretty much lost his team last year and he's losing it now. He's also in the last year of his deal and very unlikely to return. He's a grade A human being from what I can tell, but he seems to be very stubborn and as I brought up numerous times last season, his history with players like Cousins is less than sparkling. I mean, you know something's up when players on your college team start a facebook page asking for him to be fired.

I say history is your best evaluator. Don't side with Nelly!!!!

[pillwenney]

http://twitter.com/#!/WojYahooNBA/statu ... 6025501696

http://twitter.com/#!/mr_jasonjones/sta ... 9358300160

[deNIEd]

http://twitter.com/#!/WojYahooNBA/status/153640936025501696

http://twitter.com/#!/mr_jasonjones/sta ... 9358300160

For those lazy people on these boards..


@WojYahooNBA
Adrian Wojnarowski
In loud exchange with Paul Westphal on Saturday after NY loss, some Kings heard DeMarcus Cousins yelling, "Trade me now," sources tell Y!


@mr_jasonjones
Jason Jones
Westphal says Cousins has asked to be traded twice, hasn't decided if he will go on road with team this week.

[pillwenney]

So there are some facts. Would appear that he basically never made a formal request, but did yell it angrily.

[YC42Balla]

WTF.

Is this just his way of saying we need a new head coach, or, is this dude for real?

[boogie-reke]

I still fully support and believe this is the first part.

Sad to see he can't controll his emotions though, would much rather he went and talked to Petrie about it and explain him the situation.

[PaKwAn]

This is a sad team to have

[SacKingZZZ]

Of course this is directly about Paul Westphal. I know exactly what this is, Petrie standing behind his coach who is trying to send a message to his team and his players. It's a gamble for sure, could be the right move long term, or the worst move in history.

Anyone who doesn't think Cousins is by far the best prospect on this team in terms of raw talent just doesn't know basketball. This would be destruction for this team if he's not on it.

That's complete and total speculation.

I don't disagree on the second part. But that doesn't absolve him of anything.

I've seen enough interviews from Petrie and have read between the lines enough to be pretty confident in that speculation.

Last year the team was in shambles for a variety of reasons I brought before, during, and after it all went down. Then things got better. I don't know what's going on right now, but I think this is a lot of build up more than anything. Players screaming for help from their coach, that's what's going on here plain and simple. Evans even came out last night and said they basically don't have any structure and don't know what they're doing. I think Westphal has the right idea about certain things, but it's all about delivery and execution.

[SacKingZZZ]

I'm confused with what you're trying to say. If the King's were going to go anywhere, it was going to be because of DeMarcus....

King's FO released this to send a message to the players to respect the coach? And you single out the player that would have saved the franchise and essentially put national attention on this situation? What?

I said the same thing in my post.

Petrie has brought up certain things in the past, especially last year, that he'll support the coach's decision. In fact, he was pretty clear about it during the Cousins/Westphal fiasco last year if you recall.

Westphal is Westphal and I'm convinced he HATES big men. Seriously though, look at his relationship with Hawes before this! Strong headed big men do not mix with Paul Westphal. I don't remember hearing any issues between Collins and Hawes however. Interesting? Nah, I think it points to a few realities here.

[Shem]

Cousins is a head case. It's unfortunate that the Kings decided to take a chance on him. I'd say that about every team anyway. But the truth is, Cousins is all about himself and players like that are cancer. It messes with team chemistry and it is a distraction.

Let's look at Westphal's comments:

“DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight.”

It must have been a pretty bad blowup to it to get to a point where Cousins was asked to stay away from the team. Usually in situations like this, this isn't a first time thing.

"Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public. This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely."

So speculate all you want, just remember that there are going to be things you won't find out. What you do know is that it's not a pretty situation.

It's too bad since Cousins is such a talent. And this isn't a time for crap to happen, especially with all that has happened recently in terms of the team possibly moving to Anaheim. I'm glad there's still a chance the team is going to stay in Sacramento. Hopefully this doesn't get in the way.

[tru6playa]

What coaches don't have a job and would be willing to come the Sacramento?

My bet is that Kieth Smart would be handed the job as an interim coach. I'm actually over PW...

I'm actually confused on what's going on in Sacramento. Is it the coaching? Is it the players? Is it a mix of both? It's really depressing. Can Sacramento catch a break? Geez. Cousins is by far our most promising young player.

Tyreke can't pass. Cousins can't shutup. Jimmer can't defend. PW can't coach.

[dozencousins]

This just F****ng sucks ! IMO Cousins has overall been our best player so far this season along with Thorton . Yes the season has been short so far but Cousins is a stud player . He is not nearly as easily replacable as some others on our team . Big Men like Cousins that have as much potential & likely future star power just dont come along every day .

I know he wears his heart on his sleeve and he can mouth off a bit but sometimes is attitude gets mistaken for his passion for the game . If we had 15 players that have the passion Cousins does we would be an elite team . I am pissed to hear this to say the least .

I cannot possibly see us getting fair value for him if other teams know we are having serious issues . I have to lean more towards getting Westpauls @ss out of town and bring in another head coach like a Van Gundy or someone to that affect as opposed to trading Cousins . I will say if Cousins gets traded we better get a ton for him . Man this just ruined my day !

[BrooklynBulls]

I think some of you are in denial. The full story isn't out, but what makes sense is to take the statement at face value. Cousins did something or said something or acted in a manner that the FO considered so unacceptable that they told him to stay home. Players ask for trades daily, and get rejected, daily. The ones that get traded either have leverage like upcoming unrestricted free-agency (which is not relevant here) or they're such complete headcases that the FO thinks its better to trade than deal with their disgruntled state (Odom is the most recent example of that).

Similarly to Odom, the FO basically said "we know the sh*tstorm that Cousins will raise, we know he has no value on the market anymore, let's just get him the heck away from the team before he drags us further down." That is my inference from the stated facts.

And that's what looks to have happened here. I think if DMC were to change his tune, the FO might agree to make up...but how likely do you all think that is?

This sucks balls.

[Dustin5566]

This is all gonna come to a head soon I feel. I am on the fire Westphal bandwagon because there has been no improvement in 3 years. My worry is if we do fire Westphal then it just reinforces Cousins attitude and makes his ego even more inflated.

The post game interviews are just sad to watch. Everyone is sulking and depressed and seem to have no answers.

One thing is certain. Westphal has lost all control

[BrooklynBulls]

If there was ever a choice between Cousins or Westphal...is it not clear that the management chose Westphal?

Maybe he'll be fired too, but I don't think it's as simple as firing Westphal, and the problem goes away. The FO, through Westphal, has basically said we don't Cousins on this team.

[rpa]

No win situation here ....

On one hand you have a completely incompetent head coach that should have been fired years ago. He has no offensive system, no defensive system, hasn't gotten any improvement out of his players, and has had the team damn near quit on him after 4 games.

On the other hand, if you fire said coach you end up enabling your most immature player. You do this now and what are the odds Cousins goes off the deep end the next time things aren't going right (regardless of who's fault it is) because it worked once?


I'm going to put a good deal of the blame here on the Maloofs. Their cheapness is obviously one reason PW hasn't been fired (since they'd still have to pay his salary) and their BS last year about moving the team is only going to further drive perspective coaches away. Any normal, competent organization would have fired Westphal this summer at the very latest.


I think what they really need to do is find out how many on this team are against Westphal. If he really has lost the team then you fire him, but you also suspend Cousins for some length of time.

[rpa]

Maybe he'll be fired too, but I don't think it's as simple as firing Westphal, and the problem goes away. The FO, through Westphal, has basically said we don't Cousins on this team.

If they really didn't want Cousins then why issue the statement in the first place? It negatively impacts their ability to trade him.

It's like a banker releasing a statement saying "I need to unload these completely useless derivatives".

[deNIEd]

Maybe he'll be fired too, but I don't think it's as simple as firing Westphal, and the problem goes away. The FO, through Westphal, has basically said we don't Cousins on this team.

If they really didn't want Cousins then why issue the statement in the first place? It negatively impacts their ability to trade him.

It's like a banker releasing a statement saying "I need to unload these completely useless derivatives".

One of two possibilities...

Option A) King's are doing this simply to send a message and have no intention in trading DeMarcus

Option B) King's don't care about DeMarcus anymore at all and will dump him just to get rid of him (similar to LAL and Odom).


Either DeMarcus will still be with this team after the deadline...or he would have been traded for a TPE or something.

[bibby1023]

Fire westphal and let keith smart run the team. I thought he did a decent job with GoldenSt last season.