Demarcus Cousins is at it again. This time he got in a fight with teammate Donte Green after the Kings loss to the Thunder on Saturday night. After the altercation the team suspended him for one game, and he was unable to travel with the team to Phoenix.
This certainly isn’t the first time Cousins has rustled some feathers in his own locker room, and it won’t be the last either. At just twenty years old, Cousins has obvious behavioral and maturity issues. That’s why the Kings even went out of their way to put his high school coach on their staff, to help ease him into the NBA. That has worked with mixed results.
With the trade deadline a week away, will the Kings really keep Cousins? Ask now and any Kings official will tell you that he will not be moved. However, he would seem to have the highest trade value on the team. After all, Kevin Martin was traded to the Rockets during last year’s deadline even though the Kings said that they would not trade him so that he could compliment Tyreke Evans in the backcourt.
Instead of worrying about Cousins next tantrum, the Kings could trade him for a player they have been coveting for the last three years: Aaron Brooks. That would make the Kings have an extremely quick back court in Evans and Brooks. Paul Westphal could move Aaron back to his natural two guard position, and could mold him into a similar version of Allen Iverson (an undersized two who can score at will). Brooks lead the league in threes last year, and is finally starting to find his shot again after coming back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for 24 games earlier this season.
No matter how immature Cousins is, the Rockets are starving for a big man with his talent and size. As he gets older he is bound to mature, both as person and as a player. Putting Cousins in a locker room with a group of savvy veterans could completely change his mindset. When the Rockets acquired Ron Artest from the Kings three years ago, people worried how his unpredictable personality would fit into to such a no nonsense team. In the end he flourished and helped lead the Rockets to their first playoffs series victory in more than a decade. Rick Adelman can coach anyone, and he certainly could mesh better with Cousins than Paul Westphal ever will.
The Rockets could combine this deal with another for Artest which I mentioned in a previous post. Artest looks frustrated in LA, and a return to the Rockets could be just what he needs. Due to Ron’s turbulent past and issues with immaturity during his younger years in the league, he would be a perfect mentor for Cousins. Artest has been there and done that, and hopefully Cousins will understand that he must change his attitude to not only help the team but also himself.
By trading the expiring contract of Jared Jeffries for Ron Artest and Brooks for Cousins, the Rockets would get back a lot of talent without giving up that much. If the Rockets could become successful with an Artest /Cousins combo, Adelman should consider becoming a professional mediator after he retires.
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