DeMarcus Cousins will step once again on the court of Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Thursday, but he won’t be wearing the Sacramento Kings jersey. This time, Cousins will be with the New Orleans Pelicans, and knowing him, he won’t back down for the old time’s sake. The game on Thursday will also be the first in Sacramento since the Kings traded him last season. Now, after the unexpected trade landed him in New Orleans, Cousins regrets he didn’t move on sooner.
“There were plenty of situations where I’m like, ‘Man, why didn’t you just do it this way?” – Cousins said. “And there was plenty of times where I was a victim. But at the end of the day, it’s still on me. My biggest regret is not leaving when I had the chance.“
Cousins further revealed that he had a chance to push for a trade in 2015 after he had a feud with the Kings’ coach George Karl. His representatives met with the GM Vlade Divac and asked for a trade to Los Angeles Lakers, but were open to other places. Ultimately, Cousins decided to stay.
“I wanted to give it a chance because my representatives told me I shouldn’t stay,” – Cousins said. “I guess you could say I was stubborn and loyal. I wanted to make things work.“
Unfortunately for Cousins, things didn’t work, and instead of getting a supermax contract extension from the Kings, he was sent to the Pelicans alongside Omri Casspi. The Kings got Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and 2017 first and second-round draft picks.
Despite the unhappy ending, DeMarcus Cousins left his mark in Sacramento. He is franchise’s second-leading scorer and the top rebounder since the Kings relocated to Sacramento. Cousins has a career average of 21.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
