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At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins said the Sacramento Kings’ “dishonesty” was what hurt the most when he found out he was being traded. Cousins added that he’s OK with it now.

Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac has come under fire since the trade, which brought Omri Casspi to the Pelicans along with Cousins and sent Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a first-round pick and a second-round pick to Sacramento. The criticism has focused not only on the Kings’ relatively small return, but on Divac publicly and privately stating that Cousins would not be traded.

As recently as Sunday, the night an agreement was reached, Cousins’ agent Jarinn Akana told ESPN that he and Cousins had been “assured” that the organization wouldn’t trade him and in fact planned to re-sign him to a long-term contract. A few days before that, Cousins told ESPN that he planned to sign an extension in the summer and wanted his “jersey to be in the rafters in Sacramento.” 

Cousins clearly didn’t want to leave, and he obviously loves the city where he has played since 2010. For a guy who has the phrase “loyalty is love” tattooed on his back and collaborated on a line of apparel called “loyalty” last year, you can understand why he’d expect more from the Kings. Cousins, however, said he was not “mad” or “sour” about the situation, and spent much of the press conference talking about how excited he was to team up with Pelicans big man Anthony Davis.

“We’re opposites,” Cousins said. “You got a little fire, you got a little ice.”