DMC wants Trade or Max

[HotelVitale]

What flaws do cousins have?..he lacked a pure pg lik wall and even thoufh he has attitude problems its nothing more than andrew bynums...like bynum and dwight he jus wants his attempts downlow walk would have no problem giving him those....amd with the spacing of beal and webster sht sh b perfect offensively

His attitude problems are much more significant than Andrew Bynum's. John Hollinger has called him the most immature player ever in the NBA. Doesn't know how to behave at all, forgets what he's doing, acts both cocky and embarrassed, confused and utterly assured. And he's a chucker, loves these dumb midrange shots.

That said, I think he's worth a roll of the dice, especially if the price is just Oak and #3. He's bound to mature at least a little, and if he matures a lot he'll be a great player.

[Dark Faze]

Basically I only consider this if Porter, Len, and Noel are off the board.

[tontoz]

He shoots poorly from everywhere, can't defend and is so fat he has trouble just getting up and down the court. And he is nuts.

Nooooo thanks

[verbal8]

That said, I think he's worth a roll of the dice, especially if the price is just Oak and #3. He's bound to mature at least a little, and if he matures a lot he'll be a great player.

Yeah, I don't see him being worth more than that, and as many have said, it is hard to give up Porter or Noel at that point.

However what really scares me is the Max Extension. However there may be a way to mitigate the risk a little. Rather than a standard 4 year guaranteed extension, offer a 3 year one with the 3rd year guarantee based on reaching Efficiency incentives and avoiding technical fouls. The worst case the Wizards have Wall on a max deal, Beal with a 7 million cap hold and a ton of cap space in 2016-7.

The reason to do a 3 year deal, it allows the deal to be extended again if things go well.

[Illuminaire]

I find it hard to consider DMC's current production to be worth the #3 pick. There are too many ways he hurts a team. He will cost too much money. He's too high of a risk.

[pancakes3]

Trade or Max is good. Trader Joes is better for food.

Plus you don't have to go beyond the thunderdome to get your produce at Joe's.

Good idea guys...because our track record with rehabbing selfish, self-absorbed, troublemakers is so well documented. I mean, we've had so much success with these players. Arenas, Blatche, McGee, Young, Crawford--yep, these guys really paid off in the long-run.

Sheesh.

Ditto, I'd love to have DC here but we don't have the personnel to guide this young man properly. If we had San Antonio type leadership and no nonsense approach....

The funny thing about culture change is that it's almost completely arbitrary. On paper we have John Wall - a level headed superstar who wants to win, and Whittman - a complete SOB of a coach who suffers no fools and gives no f****. We SHOULD be able to enact culture change. We had it back in the 70's. We can also again. If not now then when? If not us then who?

I'd give up Okafor and our #3 for him, but not the 2014 pick. It might pay off to be patient though. Cousins is tanking his own trade value.

If Cousins continues to complain, we might get him mid-season for just Okafor and the 2014 pick.

These were my first thought too.
a) The 2014 is worth its weight in gold. Do NOT trade it.
b) This can probably wait until the deadline when the panic settles in. Or just sign him outright once OkaRiza is off the books and JW takes the less-than-max in an effort to win.

What flaws do cousins have?..

Where do we start?

- He's a poor defender on and off the ball
- He's inefficient and turnover prone
- He's inconsistent
- He has a poor attitude and teammates throughout his career generally don't like him
- He has an inflated sense of self

Just because you have a crush on him doesn't make him perfect...you sound like a battered wife.

I don't think Cousins is a bad defender. He's just a bad shotblocker. He has active hands, and good positioning. I remember reading an article about how he draws a surprising amount of charges for a big man. I'm not sure what the +/- numbers say but he also passes (barely) the eye test of a decent defender.

[dangermouse]

and also has relations

I have it on good authority that Cousins is saving himself for marriage. Except for kissing. Kissing is fine. He's a kissing Cousins.

[WallTown02]

I'd be patient. He's killing his trade value right now, which could work out well for us.

Unlikely scenario but could be possible.....

Draft Noel at #3.

Resign Webster.

Mid season trade Vesely, Seraphin & 2014 unprotected for Cousins and Isiah Thomas.

This assumes we haven't suffered crazy injuries and are playing at a 5-8 seed level.

Cousins learns under Nene & Okafor for half a season and Noel recovers.

Then we let Okariza walk and roll with...

Wall, Thomas
Beal, _____
Webster, _____
Cousins, Nene, _____
Noel, Nene, _____

Not a bad unit. Obviously the missing pieces are 3 & D types at 2/3 from cheap FAs and our 2nd rounders, etc.

Dreaming? Yup.

[Dat2U]

Cousins isn't getting the max. And frankly I don't want him if he wants the max. He's done nothing to earn it. You would be basically rewarding his terrible behavior and a team wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he continues to act up.

You don't give a player a max contract and hope they grow up.

[LyricalRico]

+1

[pancakes3]

Cousins is as close to a 20/10 big man this league has, draws fouls, passes extremely well, plays defense, rebounds and has improved steadily across the board all 3 seasons. The only on-court issues would be that he's inefficient and fouls too much. I'd say he's the big-man equivalent of Wall. The holes in his game are there but he's clearly working on it, and what he does well in he does very well (Rebounding).

I don't think he's necessarily max-money level but I don't think he's as bad/cancerous as people make him out to be.

[dobrojim]

Basically I only consider this if Porter, Len, and Noel are off the board.

since we pick 3rd and you named 3 guys, I take it you don't want him. I'm down with that.

I don't see how he's worth max money. He's NOT a 20-10 guy, as someone posted. He was
the best player on a pretty bad team. He's the Jordan Crawford of young bigs, hugely inflated
opinion of himself. He's inefficient and has TO issues.

[dobrojim]

Ditto, I'd love to have DC here but we don't have the personnel to guide this young man properly. If we had San Antonio type leadership and no nonsense approach....

What is the likelihood SAN would even want a guy like this?
Maybe part of their no nonsense approach stems from the possibility
they research the personality of the players they're looking at.

[TGW]

I would take Cousins all things being equal but a draft pick makes more sense because that player will be locked into his rookie deal whereas Cousins will be making max money.

Good point. I think Cousins's temperament is a bigger issue than his contract. It would be much easier if we didn't have to rely on Wall to be our Demarcus Whisperer. Then again, if he were more stable he wouldn't be available. I'd risk it.

[DCZards]

I could actually see him coming here instead of us using the pick. He and Wall have a plan to get him here. It was always just a matter of time. We already now Wall likes to play GM. And since we have the inside track on managing him, we get a discount. I don't think he is worth as much to other teams as he is here.

Why does everyone assume that Wall wants Cousins on the Zards? It's just as likely that John wants no part of DC as far as the Zards are concerned. Just because they're friends don't assume that John wants the knucklehead on his team or in the Zards lockerroom.

[tontoz]

I could actually see him coming here instead of us using the pick. He and Wall have a plan to get him here. It was always just a matter of time. We already now Wall likes to play GM. And since we have the inside track on managing him, we get a discount. I don't think he is worth as much to other teams as he is here.

Why does everyone assume that Wall wants Cousins on the Zards? It's just as likely that John wants no part of DC as far as the Zards are concerned. Just because they're friends don't assume that John wants the knucklehead on his team or in the Zards lockerroom.

Wall has seen up close and personal what a head case Cousins is. My guess is that he wants no part of him.

[dobrojim]

John is smart enough to not publicly say anything one way or the other
about the desirability of Cousins coming here.

[queridiculo]

I'd take a flyer on Cousins but I certainly wouldn't give him a max extension before he's ever played a minute for the Wizards.

I'd give up the third pick, throw in a second, and a combination of SIngleton, Booker, Seraphin and Vesely as filler to make it happen.

To me Cousins potential at the shallowest position in the NBA is hard to ignore. He could destroy this franchise just as likely as he could help turn the Wizards into a topflight team.

[FreeBalling]

Max contract? WTF... What has DMC done besides cause problems?

Can DMC even play at the level of Arenas in his prime?

Edit: Does Wall even play at Arenas level? F@ck no... Max my ass. The greed is becoming sickning.... That's why you pay more folks for tickets, drinks, parking and to piss in the bathroom. Because, the owner is willing to pay for above average players to fill the seats. Wall is NOT a max player. He's TED's only seat filler in the future.

Lets not forget. The Lakers can out spend the Bullets because of their TV deal and DC the number six TV MEDIA MARKET in the country (DC is not part of Baltimore).

Only a fool would pay a max contract to DMC. Fools gold is called Iron Pyrite.



I'm sure Shelvin Mack wants a MAX CONTRACT as well. ( Love the song )

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1D9wWxd2w[/youtube]

[Ruzious]

Cousins isn't getting the max. And frankly I don't want him if he wants the max. He's done nothing to earn it. You would be basically rewarding his terrible behavior and a team wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he continues to act up.

You don't give a player a max contract and hope they grow up.

The max for a player coming off his rookie contract is only 25% of the cap. A max max - for someone who's been in the NBA for enough years is 35%. He'll likely get the 25% max. Brook Lopez got it last year, and he was less accomplished at the time than Cousins is now.