Kings' DeMarcus Cousins says his draft comments were twisted negatively
The star center doesn't think he said anything wrong
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2 min read
DeMarcus Cousins doesn't think he said anything controversial on Monday at Team USA training camp in Las Vegas. In an interview with The Vertical's Michael Lee, Cousins said that his comments about the Sacramento Kings' draft have been "twisted." To him, this was another example of him not getting the benefit of the doubt.
From The Vertical:
Despite expressing his support for the team's additions of more defensive-minded veterans in Arron Afflalo, Matt Barnes, Garrett Temple and Anthony Tolliver, and also describing first-round pick Skal Labissiere as "very impressive" during summer league, Cousins was disappointed with the backlash to his overall comments about doing "my job."
"I'm trying to figure out what I said wrong. Of course, they've twisted it into something negative, in some type of way," Cousins told The Vertical. "I'm clueless. It's to the point now, where I don't want to say anything about any situation. Then I'll be the bad guy about that as well. Anything I do. Anything I do, it's ... it's whatever, man."
On one hand, the Kings' franchise player directly said he was confused by what their front office had done. These thoughts are rarely expressed so freely and publicly. On the other, well, let's remember exactly what Cousins was talking about.
Sacramento entered the 2016 NBA Draft with the No. 8 pick in the draft, and instead of using it to select the best player available, it traded it to the Phoenix Suns for the Nos. 13 and 28 picks, the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic and a future second-round pick.
On its own, that wasn't a bad move. But then, with the No. 13 pick, the Kings drafted Georgios Papagiannis, a 7-foot-1 center who was expected to be selected much later. They used the No. 28 pick on Skal Labissiere, another frontcourt player who stands 6-foot-11.
Given that Sacramento already had Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos on the roster, no one is sure exactly what general manager Vlade Divac is doing. In defense of Cousins and his comments, had almost anyone else said that the Kings' moves were difficult to understand, it would be entirely uncontroversial.
Cousins has been in Sacramento since 2010. In that time, he has had six head coaches, including new coach Dave Joerger. There has been no continuity, very little winning and many, many failed trades, draft picks and free agent signings. When Cousins says that all he can do is focus on doing his job, he is speaking from experience. Most of his career has been about trying to concentrate on basketball despite all the drama and dysfunction that has defined the Kings.
Ideally, Sacramento would surely prefer Cousins to rave about Papagiannis. The rookie didn't show much worth raving about at summer league, though, and the organization has not earned blind faith from him or anyone.
