Source: Houston Potential Destination for Cousins, but Unlikely...

Ya know, I used to really want this guy, but it's clear tht he has serious issues. He couldn't get along with his last two coaches, he's been suspended a few times, collangelo famously called him immature this summer, and he's got a track-record of bad attitude ad selfish play going back to college. Add in the fact that he hasn't relly improved much since he joined the NBA, and I don't know how any center shoots under .500. This guy scares me. Huge risk reward, but the kid boarders on toxic. If he was coach able I'd feel differently, but why repeat sac-town's mistake. Not worth it.

 

Look again. Scroll all the way down. It's all there. Every matchup of Howard vs. Perkins, regular season and playoffs.

2010 Playoffs? Lol oh man. You mean the series where Dwight Howard went 13 and 12 in game 1? Then Perkins somehow managed to almost foul out in 20ish minutes guarding Dwight in a blowout game 2, and so Perkins was advertised as a "Dwight stopper" from that point on? Yeah about that...Dwight proceeded to clown Perkins for 32/16, 21/10, and 28/12 in successive games in that series, but the dumbass kneejerk world of collective RealGM basketball opinion forgot to update the book on Perkins. It's like none of that happened. Perkins has still been dining out on that one game ever since lol. If numbers like 32/16 or 28/12 is Dwight Howard being "shut down" by Kendrick Perkins in the playoffs, then we need to reexamine Dwight Howard as a player, because he must somehow be like 3 Kareems combined. Two of them standing on top of a third to make some sort of human Kareem pyramid, I imagine. That or--hmm...far more likely--Dwight was just doing the same thing to Perkins that he was doing to everybody else in 2010, and it's like Perkins wasn't even there.

It's like this: Name a credible low post F/C and I can link you to a fistful of games of that guy lighting the great Kendrick Perkins right the hell up. Basically the notion that Kendrick Perkins is a "good low post defender" is one of the biggest popular misconceptions going right now. It's gotten to where I don't even care that this scowling monstrosity of an overrated nothing is from Texas any longer. Time to just cut the BS here. Perk is garbage my friend.

 

lol game 3 was the blowout game where Orlando didn't try. I somehow actually left out mentioning a whole other playoff game in that series where Dwight torched Perkins for 30, in addition to 32, 28, and so on. Ahahaha this just keeps getting better and better! :grin: See for yourself.



Pictured: Kendrick Perkins shows off the "defensive skills" (read: frowning at people while they dunk on you) that would get him paid 20 million dollars over the next two seasons.

 

Nobody ever talks about the defense Dwight Howard played on Perkins in that series, either. I get it, Dwight Howard could guard Perkins with one arm blindfolded, but gaze upon that offensive firepower by Sir Scowlsalot: 4 points...3 points...2 points...2 points. That is some pitiful crap right there, from a starting center in the playoffs. It's like, if the guy you're guarding usually averages 18 PPG and is demolishing you for 30 a night in the playoffs of all places, and then you yourself are putting up 2 points, then why are you on the basketball court. Why do you even exist, Kendrick Perkins??

But whatever. I've said my piece. The guy sucks. Period the end.

 

Beautifully said mate.:grin:

 

Great read from NBA.com on DeMarcus Cousins, extremely long tho.

Spoiler

NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT....


Who will be willing to gamble that DeMarcus Cousins is going to change?

Not trying to pile on the young man, who is still just 22. Lord knows I hadn't finished maturing at that age, and some would no doubt say that process is still ongoing a quarter-century later. But Cousins's numerous confrontations with members of the Kings' organization, often sullen disposition and inability to control his temper have worn just about everyone in Sacramento raw, and the Kings, sources say, are finally ready to seriously consider moving the third-year center for a package of less talented, perhaps, but more emotionally grounded players.

"If this last thing doesn't work, I don't know what to do," a member of the organization said, referring to the suspension of Cousins by the team after he engaged in a profanity-laden shouting match with Coach Keith Smart at halftime of the Kings' game with the Clippers Dec. 21. The suspension was initially labeled indefinite by the team, but it was reduced to one game, though Smart kept Cousins inactive for a second game last week.


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USA Today reported over the weekend the decision to reinstate Cousins so quickly came from owners Gavin and Joe Maloof and not general manager Geoff Petrie. A source with knowledge of the discussions said that Cousins's new agent, Dan Fegan, also was involved in persuading Sacramento to get Cousins back to the team quicker.

It was Cousins's third suspension already this season; the first two were handed down by the league. One was for confronting Spurs broadcaster Sean Elliott after a game in which Elliott had criticized Cousins during a broadcast (two games); the other was for hitting Dallas guard O.J. Mayo in the groin during a game Dec. 10 (one game). And the Kings are growing weary of it.

The team was surprised when Cousins showed up for practice on Christmas Eve, thinking the suspension was indefinite. Upon his arrival, "the Christmas spirit was gone," said the league source who is familiar with the Kings. And there was not much sympathy for him afterward when Cousins tried to apologize.

"When he apologized to the team, two players stood up and said 'we've heard this bull(bleep) before,'" the source said. "'You're either going to be with us, or you're not. We don't want to hear any more excuses.'"

Reached Monday morning, Petrie said Cousins is not on the block.

"You can put that one to rest," Petrie said. "He's not going anywhere. You can lay that to rest. Some of that stuff lives in its own reality."

Petrie said the return of Cousins to the team provided "resolution" to the shouting match with Smart.

"Everybody's moving forward," Petrie said. "He's still a young, developing player that's yet to reach his potential and is still a major piece of the future planning here. Everyone's committed to working with his development as a player and his overall growth...he's still an important part of the future. He's like a lot of people. Some have good days, and some days are better than others. We're going to continue to work with him to help him reach his potential, which is still very high."

One significant problem, according to sources, is that Cousins has refused the Kings' entreaties to undergo any type of counseling to deal with his anger issues, which were at the heart of many NBA teams' reluctance to take Cousins high in the 2010 Draft. The push has been especially strong recently, "but that's going nowhere," says a source familiar with Cousins' thinking, citing Cousins' unwillingness to even discuss the subject.

Petrie would not say whether the team wants Cousins to seek counseling.

"Those types of issues are private and should remain with the player, his representatives and obviously the people on the team," Petrie said. "That's really getting into personal information that I don't think anybody really has a right to know. I don't know that you'd want your medical records out there."

As ever, Cousins's prodigious on-court talents are not at issue; he leads the Kings in scoring and rebounding this season. There aren't five centers in the game with his skill set; he's a willing and effective passer, he can score on the block or facing the basket, and he can defend his position. He returned from the suspension Friday and promptly dropped a double-double on the Knicks, his ninth of the season. On Sunday, Cousins added to the Kings' angst with his first career triple-double (12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) against Boston.

That talent is at the heart of the Kings' disappointment. They truly believed that Cousins had turned the corner last season, walking away from confrontations with referees and showing signs of maturity. With rookie Thomas Robinson coming on board this season, and Tyreke Evans showing improvement at point guard, the Kings thought they were primed to make a move in the Western Conference this season.

Instead, the Kings are buried in 13th place in the west. That's not all Cousins's fault, of course, but the Kings think the constant energy drain on the organization dealing with his incidents has been part of the team's regression. And now that Cousins has replaced his longtime agent, John Greig, with Fegan -- who clashed with the Kings in 2009 when the franchise took Evans instead of Fegan's client, Ricky Rubio, with the fourth pick -- there is fading hope that the team can resolve its relationship with Cousins.

Petrie said he could work with Fegan.

"I've worked with just about every agent in the business at one time or another," Petrie said. "I've known Dan a long time. Everybody wants him to continue to grow and develop. That's the focus on both sides, to keep on developing him and finding ways to help him do that."

Greig had fought fiercely on Cousins's behalf for the last several years, working with his family and associates to put a support system in place that could help him try and mature, including Keith Williams, a Washington, D.C.-based trainer that had helped Cousins shed weight and get in better shape. With a much smaller client list than Fegan's -- Greig represents mainly players in Europe, including former NBA players Pops Mensah-Bonsu and David Wood -- he was a full-time advocate for Cousins.

"I would just say that on my end, I'm genuinely concerned for him to get on the right track," Greig said Sunday morning. "I hope that he's able to see the good nature that's inside of him, and build upon it. I guess that's all I can say."

Cousins told the Sacramento Bee on Sunday that the stress of losing is what's getting to him, and that he gets no credit for the many positive things he does in the Sacramento community.

"The first thing I have to do is keep my mouth shut ... even when I'm right," Cousins told the Bee. "But I'm not depressed. Do I look depressed? I'm rich, I'm healthy. I'm very grateful for the situation I'm in. I'm telling you, it's the stress."

The anger issues, which were present when Cousins was in high school and in his one season at Kentucky, have continued throughout his two-plus seasons with Sacramento. They have included a fight with then-teammate Donte Greene after a game in February, 2011, frequent clashes with then-coach Paul Westphal, and shouting matches with all of the team's assistant coaches: Mario Elie, Truck Robinson, Bobby Jackson and Clifford Ray -- who has long been respected as one of the best big-man coaches of the last decade.

After a final confrontation early last season, the Kings chose Cousins over Westphal, firing him and replacing him with Smart. Smart has bent over backwards trying to establish a relationship with Cousins, with some success; Cousins's outbursts over the last few months have shorter in duration, at least, according to the league source.

But after the latest blowup with Smart, which sources say got personal, the Kings are at their wits' end. And Petrie has to figure out what the best remedy is, with the backdrop of his own uncertain future (his contract is up at the end of the season) and the Kings' uncertain future in Sacramento after this season an obvious impediment to any potential deal. The Maloofs are extremely reluctant to trade Cousins, and they don't want to add to their payroll as they look at potential moves, from Anaheim to Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Petrie insisted Monday that both he and the organization are committed to Cousins for the long haul.

"When I talk to him periodically, it can be about basketball, it can be about life, it can be about last night's game, it can be about today's practice," Petrie said. "We've got an unbelievable staff that works with him on a daily basis. We've got Clifford Ray, who's one of the best big men coaches around. We've got a head coach that continues to invest a tremendous amount of energy to help him. He's all about moving forward and trying to help solve this."

Many execs around the league have the Celtics and Pistons at the top of the list of Cousins admirers, even after this latest episode. The Boston Scenario goes like this: surely Cousins would straighten up and fly right if he was surrounded by winners; if he had Doc Rivers barking in one ear and KG barking in the other, he'd have no choice but to give in to the Mystique.

Okay.

Still, the Celtics are willing to take the gamble, according to another league source, and embrace the challenge of keeping Cousins on the right path. But if Petrie can't add any payroll, it's hard to see a scenario with Boston that would be enticing for the Kings, unless they're enamored with rookies Jared Sullinger or Fab Melo as centerpieces of a deal.

Including guard Avery Bradley might get a conversation going, but the Cs love Bradley's two-way game and have imagined him a cornerstone of their rebuild; Bradley's rapid development the second half of last season before his shoulder injuries put him on the shelf in the playoffs made it much easier for Boston to absorb Ray Allen's departure.

On the other hand, Detroit would have the requisite young, inexpensive talent to send back to Sacramento if it were inclined to take a gamble on Cousins. Third-year emerging star Greg Monroe would certainly get the Kings' attention, as he did before the 2010 Draft. A league source says the Kings took Cousins instead on Westphal's behalf.

"Geoff preferred Greg Monroe" before the 2010 Draft, the source said. "But (Petrie) was a friend of Paul's and he was trying to help him win more right away...when Paul was there, he did a lot of things to try and help him win games, because (former coaches Eric) Musselman and (Reggie) Theus had been such disasters. Paul was a contemporary of Geoff's; he was a smart guy."

Except, Detroit has no interest in him. At least not anymore.

The Pistons certainly were intrigued with Cousins before the 2010 Draft, and tried to move up from the ninth spot to get him. But once Sacramento took him at five, Detroit went for the next highly-rated big on the board in Monroe, and has been quite happy it did so.

Now, the Pistons plan to build around Monroe and rookie center Andre Drummond. There is no chance Detroit would move Monroe and leave itself with Cousins and Drummond -- who, like Cousins, is immensely talented, but has his own growing up to do after a lackluster one-and-done season at Connecticut before entering last year's Draft.

Washington also has a talented, inexpensive young big in third-year center Kevin Serpahin, who came on at the end of last season, and a surplus of young forwards like Trevor Booker and Chris Singleton. And the Wizards have the one guy who seemed to be able to reach Cousins in John Wall, who played with Cousins at Kentucky before both entered the Draft after their freshman seasons.

But would Cousins do well in an environment that has been even worse from a winning standpoint than Sacramento's? The Wizards went to great lengths over the last year to get rid of young players whose immaturity, they felt, was wearing Wall down, trading center JaVale McGee to Denver for Nene and guard Nick Young to the Clippers and using the amnesty provision to waive forward Andray Blatche.

"No one can (keep Cousins in line), and John doesn't need to try," a friend of Wall's said over the weekend. "I don't think DeMarcus has any interest in doing anything other than what he wants to do."

The battle continues, between the "simple, Southern, homebody kid," as Greig put it, and the guy that cusses out his coaches, one after the other, and has worn his teammates down to the nub. One or the other will win, and a franchise or two hangs in the balance, depending on which one, and when.

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/featur...p-10-stories-2012/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt6a

 

I would like to rep you again because this is very entertaining but the system won't let me. Seriously, you are bard, sir.

 

I think the best fits for him would be either Boston or Dallas. He needs to go to a team with veterans that can keep him in check. I really would love to see him on Boston though. Him and Rondo together would be killer.

 

Oh I never said Sacramento would do the deal!

I was speaking to the fact that Washington would CERTAINLY trade Beal for Cousins if offered (and if they wanted the headcase).


Beal's numbers probably aren't a massive concern for GMs at the moment. He's a rookie on an absolutely terrible team which has no PG to create anything for him. So despite his numbers, he probably still has value because he was highly drafted, but if his numbers continue into next season, that value will drop off the edge of a cliff.
Funny thing "potential" - often it is just a substitute word for "this guy is crap but I have a hunch he might not be"....

 

There is no better fit for Cousins right now than the Rockets. The youngest team in the league and they already look to have things together.
OKC would be another good fit.

 

what is better than Cousins

Spoiler

a Cousins with his head straight on

 

Exactly. As i mentioned earlier, winning might get him right.

 

Lamarcus Aldridge is starting to grow on me. I don't think Sacto will ever trade Cousins and he can't stretch the floor anyway, so If L.A can stay healthy Morey can wait til the off season and we can keep P.Pat to come off the bench. We'd still have to make some trades to clear the roster glut (Donuts, Morris, Royce) but how awesome would it be to have

PG: Lin
SG: Harden
SF: Parsons
PF: Aldridge
C: Asik

 

Greg Monroe anyone???

 

BeeBeard

When you WATCH the Thunder play teams with legit bigs, do you see them allow Perkins to check dudes with less help more often than not or more often than most other teams do? Compare that to us pre Asik, and you will notice the difference. Guys will still get their numbers unless someone is a lock down defender (never said Perkins was), but it's about making them work for theirs without having to constantly send help their way. Using your logic I guess Battier wasn't a good defender either?

There aren't that many bigs in the league that can defend the low post without tons of help. Perkins is one of them and I don't see OKC trading him as they know the bigs they will see in the playoffs. Maybe if Ibaka develops into a better man defender but he's not there yet. It was night and day last postseason when he had to check dudes 1-1 in the post (great help defender though).*

 

Big Monroe fan but unless you're willing to include Harden in the deal, Detroit would die laughing.

 

I think the front office over there already went on record today saying that they would not deal Cousins.

 

Even if Geoff wants to trade Cousins, and at this point I reckon he is begging to, the Maloofs will just veto it.

 

Not yet, they won't.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/PerDiem-130102/nba-demarcus-cousins-trade-scenarios