Sacramento Kings: Will DeMarcus Cousins Ever Put It Together?

DeMarcus Cousins has a lot of raw talent, but he continues to cause problems for the Sacramento Kings. (Photo: Scott Mecum, Flickr.com)

Put yourself in the following situation: There’s a young basketball player on your team who is extremely talented and by all accounts has the raw skill to either lead a team to a championship or at least be one of the primary players on a title contender. Now, imagine that player has a series of attitude problems that frequently cause dysfunction in the locker room and alienate him from his teammates and you have yet to come even close to a playoff berth since he joined your team. That’s what the Sacramento Kings and their fans have dealt with for the last three years since they drafted DeMarcus Cousins.

He’s one of the most skilled big men in the league and based on ability alone, you would expect him to a lead a team to the postseason, but he’s continued to ruffle feathers and the Kings still finish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings every year. This coming year will be huge for Cousins. It’s the final season of his rookie contract and the point where the Kings will decide if they want to go forward with Cousins on the roster. Will he finally put it all together and lead the Kings to glory or will his strong numbers continue to come without any real success?

On the surface, Cousins played fairly well this past season. He averaged nearly double-double, at 17.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Furthermore, his player efficiency rating (PER) was a strong 20.2. Not too much to complain about there.

Still, his offensive rating was a fairly low 102, giving the indication that while he could put points on the board, he didn’t always do it in the most efficient way possible and in general, his high scoring average may have had more to do with the lack of consistent options for the Kings’ offense than any particularly strong effort by Cousins. Efficiency has always been a problem for Cousins. In his rookie season, his offensive rating was much worse, at a horribly low 94, giving him negative offensive win shares for that season.

While he’s improved considerably in that regard over the past two years, he still isn’t exactly dominant on offense. He can fill up the score sheet, but he often struggles to be efficient on offense and he lacks the post prowess of All-Stars like LaMarcus Alridge and Zach Randolph. Cousins certainly has the potential to improve in this regard, but if he wants to join the group of elite big men, he needs to be more consistent and learn to be more dominant. If that takes place, there’s no telling how far Cousins can take the Kings.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/16/2013.

On the defensive end of the spectrum, Cousins certainly isn’t bad. His defensive rating has hovered between 104 and 106 in his first three seasons, which is hardly a bad number. Still, the Kings had one of the league’s worst defenses last season, giving up more points per game than anyone else. Now, it would be rather unfair to blame this issue on Cousins, since the number would suggest that he was one of their brighter spots in that regard and their defensive woes may be better attributed to players like Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Thornton, whose defensive ratings were much higher. Still, it would be nice if Cousins’ individually strong defense had a greater effect on the rest of the team. A good comparison here might be be Marc Gasol, who played excellent individual defense, but also acted as the team’s anchor in that regard, lifting up the entire defense. In the case of Cousins, he succeeds at individual defense, but it has yet to carry over to his teammates yet.

Depending on your perspective, you could either praise Cousins for succeeding defensively on a team that plays it so poorly overall or you could wonder why his defense has yet to have any effect on the play of those around him or the overall effort of the team. In any case, Cousins is certainly the best defender the Kings have and it would be nice if the rest of the team could catch up to him.

Cousins is a difficult player to evaluate. He has some undeniable strong points and if the Kings opt not to give him an extension, he would likely have a lot of suitors around the league. Still, he’s certainly rough around the edges. He struggles with offensive efficiency and he has yet to go through a full season without becoming a distraction in the locker room.

If Cousins puts it all together and becomes the elite player so many people think he can be, the Kings could be playoff bound sooner than you think. If he continues to cause problems, don’t be surprised if the Kings refuse to offer him an extension and let the rest of the league take their chances.