Cousins: Losing Malone Hurt Us More Than Anyone Realized

[Walmart]

First coach since he made it into the NBA that he has a good relationship with and they dumped him like he was nothing while they were at .500 for the first time in years. I wonder how long it takes until Cousins demands a trade.

[Mk0]

First coach since he made it into the NBA that he has a good relationship with and they dumped him like he was nothing while they were at .500 for the first time in years. I wonder how long it takes until Cousins demands a trade.

He is gone by the deadline. Ranadive is a delusional fool who broke his shiny new toy (Kings franchise) getting it out of the box.

This situation makes me irrationally angry.

(I guess it isn't completely irrational as a lot of my friends are Kings fans and I enjoyed watching the team during the early 2000s)

[Yuri Vaultin]

I wonder if their owner realizes he screwed up big time by firing him.

I'm pretty sure Ranadive thinks he has never taken a stinky poop in his life.

[og15]

As if they were getting into the playoffs anyways. This is better. Lose games, get a high draft pick. Try again next year.

Kings have the talent to do that with internal development, continued familiarity and some solid FA signings. They didn't need to have a losing season, even getting 9th or 10th and being competitive with the talent they already have would be helpful.

[83SixersRocked]

His words were "We're not the same team." Hate to nitpick, but the title is a misrepresentation of what was actually said. On top of that, pretty much everyone realized the potential impact of that decision, considering the situation with cousins. It certainly didn't take anybody by surprise.

In addition, Op paraphrased the question. People usually paraphrase the answer when they want to misrepresent something.

[Kings2013]

Cousins just stating the obvious, that the team's dynamic has changed.. I hope we find ourselves out of this

[Doctor MJ]

As if they were getting into the playoffs anyways. This is better. Lose games, get a high draft pick. Try again next year.

Except this type of stuff is demoralizing, sets back player development, and creates an undesirable environment for free agents or the franchise player(s) that's already there.

Yes, lottery picks are cool, but sucking forever tends to be counter productive.

Yup, plus we've always known that Cousins is partially unhinged. When you're building you're entire franchise around someone known to get in a bad mood, you make changes very carefully.

Honestly it's just astounding to me. Forget that the new owner thinks he knows something about basketball in general, you work with the talent you have. The talent you have is Cousins, and under Malone he blossomed from a prospect to someone who was frankly better than most ever thought he would be but making the offense and defense work in particular ways for Cousins. I'm not saying you can't ever fire the guy, but you don't fire the guy for stylistic reasons when he's working so well with your star.

[Amish Mafioso]

But with good coaching, continuity, and player development, they might not be in the exact same position. There are several examples of teams becoming very good by simply improving each year (Grizzlies, Warriors, Raptors, Pacers, Wizards) instead of constantly hitting the reset button.

Warriors made a blatant tank move when they dumped Monta for an injured Bogut, in order to keep their pick that year. I don't disagree with the idea that the Kings have played that game for too long and that a happy cousins is more important than another top pick, but the Warriors have gotten to where they are through smart management, and that certainly did include tanking.

[[e]]

Now for the Kings to land the 11th pick, and have to send it over to Chicago.

[ADoaN17]

it also doesn't help when your best player sulks and only gives 30% effort.. just saying

30% effort and putting up 23/12. Damn he may be the GOAT.

[KF10]

it also doesn't help when your best player sulks and only gives 30% effort.. just saying

Cousins shouldn't even be playing right now! His time table for recovery from the the viral meningitis was projected to be mid-January. In those 10 games when he was out, the Kings went 2-8 or something like that. When he saw the team was slipping, he wanted to return asap. Ever since then, he has been playing to the best of his abilities. Yes, he has let his frustrations dictate his play at times but no one shouldn't be pointing any fingers to Cousins about what's happening in Sacramento right now.

[Shem]

But with good coaching, continuity, and player development, they might not be in the exact same position. There are several examples of teams becoming very good by simply improving each year (Grizzlies, Warriors, Raptors, Pacers, Wizards) instead of constantly hitting the reset button.

Warriors made a blatant tank move when they dumped Monta for an injured Bogut, in order to keep their pick that year. I don't disagree with the idea that the Kings have played that game for too long and that a happy cousins is more important than another top pick, but the Warriors have gotten to where they are through smart management, and that certainly did include tanking.

It was also to open the door to the development of Klay Thompson.

[GSP]

This new kings owner is so clueless its hilarious
Cousins is gooooone.

[rpa]

First coach since he made it into the NBA that he has a good relationship with and they dumped him like he was nothing while they were at .500 for the first time in years. I wonder how long it takes until Cousins demands a trade.

He is gone by the deadline. Ranadive is a delusional fool who broke his shiny new toy (Kings franchise) getting it out of the box.

Near 0% chance. Not only does Cousins have 3 years left on his deal (after this one), but the front office would get absolutely destroyed if they did such a thing. People are already angry at them. Trade Cousins and there'll be pitch forks.

[dozendonuts]

As if they were getting into the playoffs anyways. This is better. Lose games, get a high draft pick. Try again next year.

Kings have the talent to do that with internal development, continued familiarity and some solid FA signings. They didn't need to have a losing season, even getting 9th or 10th and being competitive with the talent they already have would be helpful.

So with internal development you see them getting into the playoffs next season? Who do they knock off in the west? GS, Portland, Dallas, Houston, OKC, Spurs, Memphis or Clippers?

[Ballerhogger]

cousins come to LA:)

[Atmanne]

But with good coaching, continuity, and player development, they might not be in the exact same position. There are several examples of teams becoming very good by simply improving each year (Grizzlies, Warriors, Raptors, Pacers, Wizards) instead of constantly hitting the reset button.

Warriors made a blatant tank move when they dumped Monta for an injured Bogut, in order to keep their pick that year. I don't disagree with the idea that the Kings have played that game for too long and that a happy cousins is more important than another top pick, but the Warriors have gotten to where they are through smart management, and that certainly did include tanking.

Fair enough

[TaylorMonkey]

But with good coaching, continuity, and player development, they might not be in the exact same position. There are several examples of teams becoming very good by simply improving each year (Grizzlies, Warriors, Raptors, Pacers, Wizards) instead of constantly hitting the reset button.

Warriors made a blatant tank move when they dumped Monta for an injured Bogut, in order to keep their pick that year. I don't disagree with the idea that the Kings have played that game for too long and that a happy cousins is more important than another top pick, but the Warriors have gotten to where they are through smart management, and that certainly did include tanking.

It was also to open the door to the development of Klay Thompson.

It wasn't a blatant tank move. It was because Bogut was a much better player for the Warriors needs. The tank for Barnes was just a bonus, and he was completely irrelevant last season. I'm not seeing what asset the Kings got for dumping Malone.

Klay made it possible to dump Monta, but the real development door it opened was for Steph Curry.

Seems to have worked out. Are the Kings opening the door for the development of... Ty Corbin?

When the Warriors made a coaching change, they did it in an off season, knew how their current coach was limiting their roster, knew what they wanted, and went out and got it. They didn't do it just as the team started to turn around for "um... someone who plays faster. Cause style. And stuff."

[Silver Man]

It's obvious to everyone who consistently watches the Kings. The vibe is different watching the games. They certainly are not the same.

Cousins is frustrated because he felt trust and respected Malone, and the first NBA coach that got through to Cousins was canned and most importantly was canned and Cousins found out via twitter. By no means did I think we were a playoff team this year especially playing in the West, but Malone had the locker room trust and guys rallied around him, and then one night Malone was gone, because he wanted to run a system around defense and what is best for the teams best player which is the big man Cousins.

Instead our owner wants a running fast paced team, which there is nothing wrong with with the right players but last time I looked (though I have to look often to make sure Cousins hasn't been traded) best suited to not run an ultra fast paced game, and I'm not even going to get into 4 on 5 cherry picking because that hurts my head. Is this the worst thing to happen to the Kings in recent years? No the Maloofs sealed that up many times, but I just pray this does not bite us when Cousins contract expires.

Cousins is not the type of player you want them to not trust.

[Kings2013]

As if they were getting into the playoffs anyways. This is better. Lose games, get a high draft pick. Try again next year.

Kings have the talent to do that with internal development, continued familiarity and some solid FA signings. They didn't need to have a losing season, even getting 9th or 10th and being competitive with the talent they already have would be helpful.

So with internal development you see them getting into the playoffs next season? Who do they knock off in the west? GS, Portland, Dallas, Houston, OKC, Spurs, Memphis or Clippers?

On talent, Cousins, Gay, Collison and McLemore can be a good core unto itself. Collison in Sacramento has played solid/good on the level of say Jrue Holiday. Ben is an up and coming two way player that we as Kings fans like. These four need better players around them (the bench has been pitiful), stability, coaching, and continuity. As much as a mid to late lotto pick might help, you want to team to take steps forward. At the beginning of this season the team was challenging the teams you mentioned on a nightly basis