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Friends or Rivals? On The Celtics, Isaiah Thomas And DeMarcus Cousins

By ggrammer

Feb 27, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) celebrates after making a three point shot during the second half of the Boston Celtics 106-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) celebrates after making a three point shot during the second half of the Boston Celtics 106-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /
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DeMarcus Cousins is really good. And he may be on his way out of Sacramento.

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The Kings star was an All-Star this year and will almost certainly make an All-NBA team. But despite Cousins’ skills, the Sacramento Kings finished with 29 wins, a lower SRS than last year, and found themselves once again the laughingstock of the league thanks to new owner Vivek Ranadive’s ridiculous ideas.

They have not won 30 games since 2008, and have not made the playoffs since 2006.

As so often occurs on losing teams with superstars, the rumors of said star leaving has begun. Cousins signed an extension with the Kings that began this season, but ESPN writer Marc Stein reported that the Boston Celtics will use their numerous future first-round picks to try to pry Cousins away from the Kings and into Celtic green.

Some might worry about Cousins’ well-known personality issues, but that should not a concern. Cousins is immensely talented, and if Brad Stevens cannot get Cousins to click, then no one can.

Perhaps a greater concern would be the relationship between Cousins and Isaiah Thomas. The two players were teammates in Sacramento. Cousins was selected with the fifth pick in 2010, the young star center who was supposed to revitalize the Kings. Thomas was selected with the final pick in 2011 and was little more than an afterthought.

But Thomas surprised the Kings and in no time, he was starting alongside DeMarcus Cousins. For the next three years, the two of them would play alongside one another and become the main players on the rebuilding Kings.

The relationship between these two players was strange. There was that bizarre baby Twitter fight, where Cousins and Thomas photoshopped each other’s face on images of babies. And then there was that moment when Cousins dragged Thomas away from shaking Chris Paul’s hand after a tough Kings loss to the Clippers.

But throughout the three years that they played together, there were certainly rumors that the two players did not get along.

This beef continued after Thomas signed with the Phoenix Suns. Cousins stated that he was glad the ball “was not stuck in one place.” Thomas said that he “felt very disrespected” by the Kings and admitted that the Kings players “didn’t trust each other.”

Any disagreement between Thomas and Cousins is certainly no Shaq-Kobe feud. It may even just be the product of a frenzied media and has no basis whatsoever. But there is enough there that Boston Celtics fan have good reason to be concerned about whether Cousins will come play with Thomas.

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    • There has already been speculation that Kelly Olynyk’s injury of Kevin Love has destroyed any chances of Love joining the Celtics this offseason. Is it possible that the presence of Thomas may shut Boston out of any chance to get Cousins as well?

    It is certainly possible, but that does not mean that it is likely. For starters, Boston’s chance of getting Cousins in the first place are miniscule at best. Cousins still has an additional three years left on his contract after this season. The Kings have time to retool their roster around Cousins and persuade him to stay in Sacramento.

    If Sacramento chooses to trade Cousins, Boston is as likely a destination as any. They have the draft picks to entice the Kings into making a trade. Furthermore, Boston is a good enough team that they can persuade Cousins to come win for them unlike the Knicks or the Lakers. But once again, this assumes that the Kings choose to trade Cousins in the first place.

    If the Celtics have the slightest chance of getting their hands on a center as talented as Cousins, Danny Ainge should do whatever is necessary in order to make that happen. Boston lost to the Cavaliers not because of a lack of execution or will, but because of a lack of talent.

    Cousins would be the perfect player to fix that problem, regardless of any grudges between him and Isaiah Thomas.

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