For a modest investment at this year’s trade deadline, New Orleans acquired a mercurial player capable of altering the trajectory of a franchise by himself. DeMarcus Cousins, unable to drag his lowly Sacramento Kings above the 35-win threshold in seven seasons, is among the most polarizing athletes in professional basketball. (If not the most.)
Cousins puts up superstar numbers (24-12-3 for his career), but he’s often been forgotten or pointedly eliminated from the superstar discussion, because his team was terrible.
The over-arching reason for Sacramento’s failure to build a contender around one of the best basketball players in the world is uncertain.