Frustrations are riding high in Sacramento and have been for the last few days. There have been trade rumors surrouding gifted big man DeMarcus Cousins for years now it seems like, and the tensions have never been higher. It all started with an interviewer asking new Sacramento Kings GM Vlade Divac whether he would trade Cousins to which he emphatically denied. Then, just days later, a report came out saying head coach George Karl wants Cousins out of Sacramento. Then after all this ensued and no one knew who wanted what, owner Vivek Ranadive threatened to fire Karl only four months after signing him. It has been a messy, messy week in California’s capital city and things are only getting worse with the most recent report. Following from USAToday’s Sam Amick:
“I just was tired last week, or days, of these rumors, and putting a lot of stuff on our back, making this even harder than it is,” Divac said in an interview with Sacramento radio station KHTK 1140 Friday morning. “I try to be who I am, and try to do my job best I can and try to do the best I can for the franchise. I’m not going to let somebody change my mind because they’re putting (threats in) the paper or putting the pressure on me. I’ll do the best I can to improve this team.”
For all the understandable comparisons between Cousins’ situation and that of superstars like Carmelo Anthony (Melo-Drama in Denver) or Dwight Howard (Dwight-mare in Orlando), there’s one common thread that has been largely ignored by the masses: Cousins’ agent, Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, who has long since become the industry leader in applying the kind of pressure to a team that he hopes leads to a trade of his choosing.
He represented Howard during those Orlando days, when all the endless twists and turns leading up to his Aug. 2012 trade to the Los Angeles Lakers did the kind of damage to Howard’s reputation that has never been truly repaired. He was behind the scenes in the Denver situation back in 2011, too, working unofficially with then-Nuggets adviser and close friend Bret Bearup to get Anthony to the Brooklyn Nets before then-general manager Masai Ujiri ultimately opted for a trade with the New York Knicks.
This story is getting crazier and crazier by the day as now many people see Cousins’ agent to blame for all the turmoil taking place. I mean, he was the agent of Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard when those two had trade issues in Denver and Orlando, respectively.
At this point in time it seems Divac is not going to crumble under the pressure and Cousins will stay put, for now. Everyone seems to be on Cousins’ side except Coach Karl. DeMarcus even had his draft dreams come true on Thursday night when Sacramento drafted Willie Cauley-Stein, so it looks like the Kings are ready to move forward with Cousins and please him in every way possible.
We still don’t know whether Karl and Cousins will be able to coexist after this hellish start to the offseason. It seems Divac is interested in keeping both of them right where they are and working things out between the coach and franchise player. One thing is for certain though, Valde Divac will not let anyone tell him what to do when it comes to running this franchise.
