Sign In
Kings treated Cousins like a cattle?Jersey | Forum
Deleted user
Mar 31 '17, 08:23PM
We can all understand a few simple truths about day-to-day existence when it comes to NBA trades. Cousins was dealt to New Orleans only after the Kings, a team that signed DeMarcus to a massive contract extension in 2013 prior to being rumored to be in line for another, told Cousins repeatedly that he wasn’t part of any trade discussions. After being kept in the dark, prior to Eric Weddle Authentic Jersey being informed of his complete and utter lifestyle switch while in the middle of working through an exhibition game on national TV, it’s understandable how one could feel like “cattle” considering the inhumanity of the whole process. DeMarcus Cousins did well to laugh it up for part of Thursday, in anticipation of his reunion with his ex-teammates from the Sacramento Kings on Friday evening. The New Orleans Pelicans star, traded to Sac after six and a half frustrating, playoff-less seasons with the Kings, told reporters that he was set to merely “go in, play hard and try to get a win” repeatedly in a cheery segment with both California and New Orleans press, before insisting that he wasn’t “trying to make this personal,” against a cast of ex-teammates that he mostly got on well with, relative to their own curiosities regarding Mr. Cousins. DeMarcus wasn’t giving the press a front, in this instance, because even these pointless games (New Orleans is mostly out of the playoff race, the Cousins-less Kings are tanking) are rather complicated. But how would you have taken it if the Kings were up front about wanting to trade you? “Of course, I would’ve been mad. But I still would have respected it. Come to me like a man. I’m a human being at the end of the day. Don’t treat me like a f—ing piece of cattle.” Trades are no fun, for most involved, because even the most unhappy of players (this includes Cousins, in Sac) are going to want to try to make it work with their incumbent team, and even the unhappiest of players from star (still Boogie!) to scrub does not want to have to relocate to play on a new team midseason. Money turns into “money” when you don’t have it, and Cousins (by his own admission, shook into perspective by visiting those in Mobile that “are struggling with real-life situations,” fans back home that “don’t know if they will be able to eat tomorrow”) has concerns that to his credit run far deeper than the potential cash lost as a new member of the New Orleans Pelicans. The club, thankfully, closest to his hometown. The guy wanted to see it out in Sacramento, working in a community that Cousins truly loves, for a fan base that he wanted to do right by. DeMarcus Cousins’ time in Sac was not only bought up and marked by six coaches, three general managers and two groups of team owners between 2010 and early 2017, but by the legitimate fears http://www.authenticravensjerseys.com/javorius-allen-jersey-for-sale-c-43.html that had the franchise playing its last games in Sacramento during Cousins’ first few years with the club. The Kings could have moved away from Sacramento far sooner than Cousins did. Cousins not only saw the team and his own personal relocation story play out on the look of the faces of the Kings fans he worked in front of, but also the fans that in real life were dealing with much worse than the idea of a basketball club or basketball player leaving town. Fans that tended to value the anxiety over losing a team or player to cheer for over, say, yet another 30-win season from the struggling club, fans that were trying to forget everything going on outside the team’s arena, new or old. However, all players give up the right to dictate their year-to-year permanence with a particular team, unfortunately for them, when they decide to sign guaranteed contracts that last for longer than a season. Improvement is the name of the game for the Pelicans, who are all but eliminated from playoff contention in the Western Conference. They’re 9-9 overall since trading for Cousins, with four of those five wins coming with Cousins out of the lineup. New Orleans has struggled to figure out how to make the most of both Cousins and Anthony Davis when they share the court, rather than having the two talented big men take turns as the offensive focal point. When one or the other sits, the Pelicans have been one of the best teams in the NBA since the All-Star break. Yet over the http://www.officialnikejetshop.com/darrelle-revis-jersey-for-sale-c-45.html past two weeks, coach Alvin Gentry has started to maximize his roster’s potential. The Pelicans are 7-3 in their past 10 games, with tough tests against the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers on the schedule to close out the season. If New Orleans is finding its groove, we’ll know soon. If a player truly wants to be in charge of his own fortunes, to stay on a club without the added benefit of a no-trade clause (only given to players who have been in the NBA eight seasons, and who have the bargaining gravitas to chase one), then he should sign a series of one-year contracts every summer so as to legally move the trade option off of the table. Few NBA players, understandably, want to mix that sense of location security (if only for a season) with the uneasiness that comes from seeking out a new contract every year in a league that counts career-killing injuries by the pantload, Chet. The trick is to be the best rancher, which can often be hard even in a society that’s more connected than ever. Expectedly, Sacramento’s Kings didn’t even show up to the dude ranch with a hat, much less a saddle. Making things stranger for all involved is the NBA and the NBA’s players union’s role in this. They’ve collectively bargained their way into making it exceedingly preferable for star players to want to stay with incumbent teams, to the point where Cousins will be probably miss http://www.officialnikejetshop.com/david-harris-jersey-for-sale-c-30.html out on tens of millions of dollars due to NBA rules limiting the amount that he can make in any contract extension with the Pelicans. All players, when being dealt from club to club, will be treated like cattle in ways that even the jumpiest of coaches or general managers just will never be able to fully relate to or empathize with. The trick is to be considerate of the fellow human who is not only your co-worker but employee, an actual person that you could treat as an asset in concert with another franchise to make your life and job way, way easier.
