DeMarcus Cousins: Historical Player Comparison

The Sacramento Kings have had an eventful season. After a hot start, franchise center DeMarcus Cousins went down with meningitis for an extended period of time, which basically gave the Kings a reason to fire head coach Mike Malone. Tyrone Corbin then coached the team until the All-Star break in an interim role until George Karl was hired.

Since hiring Karl, the Kings have gone 4-10 and are currently 13th in the Western Conference.

However, it is not all doom and gloom in Sacramento. Their aforementioned franchise center, DeMarcus Cousins, is having an extremely productive season statistically. The numbers he is putting up this year place him on a few different lists filled with basically only Hall of Fame or future Hall of Fame players.

Could it be that Cousins is a future Hall of Famer himself?

Hall Worthy Numbers

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The fifth-year man out of Kentucky is averaging 23.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in just 33.9 minutes per game. Those three main numbers—23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists—place Cousins among some rare company.

According to Basketball-Reference.com, only 16 centers have ever had a season in which they averaged at least 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. All of those players—with the exception of Spencer Haywood, whose Hall of Fame case is quite the debate—are either currently in the Hall or destined to be there.

That list includes past greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain along with more contemporary stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan.

This season, Cousins has not only joined elite company, but he has joined it at an early age. Cousins is one of nine players on that list to accomplish this feat by age 24.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/16/2015.

(Note: Kareem accomplished this feat three times by age 24. Just a little reminder of how good he was.)

What might be most impressive is that Cousins is one of only three centers that has been able to average those numbers for a season in less than 38 minutes per game. He is also the youngest of those three centers to do it. To top it off, Cousins is averaging the fewest minutes by far of any season on the list.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/16/2015.

If the search criteria is expanded to players of all positions, 21 different players have been able to complete this task.

The only player on the list that is not currently in the Hall of Fame or a lock to be there once they are eligible is Cleveland Cavaliers‘ Kevin Love, who was able to average 23, 12 and three his last year playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves (who knows, maybe Love could make the Hall someday?). Even on the expanded list, Cousins plays the fewest minutes per game.

Looking at Cousins complete line of 23.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, as well as 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, the rarity of his season comes into even sharper focus historically. Below is the complete list of seasons in which a player has averaged the above 23 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists along with at least one steal and one block.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/16/2015.

(Note: The NBA did not begin tracking steals and blocks until the 1973-74 season.)

It has only been done 14 times by seven different players. All of those players except Cousins won an MVP at some point in their careers. Considering the historical precedent, it looks like Cousins has enough talent to win one for himself someday. Charles Barkley, Bob McAdoo and Cousins are the only players to do it before they were 27 years old.

Not So Hall Worthy Numbers

Cousins is making history in a lot of positive ways this year. However, his game still has some rough edges to it. The two biggest issues Cousins faces are limiting turnovers and fouls. Part of the reason Cousins has made such a big impact in relatively few minutes is because he has been forced to do so because of foul trouble.

As of now, Cousins is averaging 4.2 turnovers and 4.1 fouls per game. If he finishes the year averaging four or more in both of those categories, he will become just the third player to do so. Below is the complete list of seasons in which a player has pulled off this unfortunate feat.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/16/2015.

This isn’t the kind of history any player wants to make. Cousins is filling up the stat sheet with monster numbers, the only problem is he is filling it up all the way across the board, putting up those same monster numbers in negative categories.

An extreme example of this is a loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 13. He finished that game with 32 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, two steals, a block, nine turnovers and six fouls.

Averaging a combined eight fouls and turnovers per game might look pretty ghastly, but here is something to think about. Charles Barkley was an NBA MVP and Hall of Famer. George McGinnis was an ABA MVP. A player has to be doing a lot of things right for their coach to still have them on the floor averaging four turnovers and four fouls.

Even though it is a rather dubious distinction to be one of three players to foul and turn the ball over so prolifically, at least he has good company.

To put Cousins’ season in perspective consider:

• He leads the league in fouls per game.
• Even though he has missed 14 games, he has fouled out 10 times this year, four more than any other player.
• He is tied for the second in turnovers per game.
• Among players that qualify, he has the worst assist to turnover ratio in the NBA, per ESPN.com.

On the other hand:

• He is fifth in points per game.
• Third in free throws made and attempted per game.
• Third in rebounds per game.
• Third in assists per game among centers.
• 14th in blocks and 27th in steals per game.

The Jury Is Out … For Awhile

One great season does not a Hall of Fame case make. Nor does one poor season leading the league in turnovers and fouls doom a player. It is the body of work that matters in the long run.

Whether Cousins will make the Hall or not will be determined over the next 10 years or so of his career. The talent and potential are certainly there and he has already placed himself among some of the most productive players the NBA has ever had.

At this point, it wouldn’t be shocking if Cousins were able to put together a career worthy of being elected to Springfield. What will go a long way in determining his career and place among the NBA greats is if this season is not an anomaly, but a big step towards Cousins fulfilling his potential and becoming the best player he can be. 

Before the 2013-14 season, Zach Lowe wrote a piece for Grantland titled “The Mystery of Boogie” about the many unknowns of DeMarcus Cousins and his game.

Many of those questions have been answered (Is he worth a max contract? Yes.), some partly answered (Can he get his attitude in check? Defense? It’s getting better), but a good number remain (Can he get his jumper and shot selection right? We’ll see).

As great as Cousins is right now, he still has so much room to grow. What kind of numbers could he put up if he were able to limit his fouls and play 38 minutes a game? Thirty-eight aggressive minutes per game is very different than 33.9 foul-plagued minutes. How much more devastating would his offense be—both scoring and passing—if he cut out a few turnovers?

And how many points could he score if he improved his jumper and/or changed his shot selection?

This is an intriguing part of Cousins’ game. On the year, Cousins is shooting 46.7 percent, much lower than expected for a bruising back-to-the-basket big man. The reason for that is Cousins has attempted 296 mid-range jumpers so far this season—32.5 percent of his total shot attempts—and has only hit 37.2 percent of them, per NBA.com.

Compare that to the 58.8 percent he shoots in the restricted area and one would think that he should stop shooting jump shots entirely.

While it is true that he bails the defense out by shooting from the mid-range so much and his shot selection could improve, he shouldn’t cut it out altogether. Check out his free-throw percentage year-to-year.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/16/2015.

He has improved more than 10 percentage points from his rookie season to now. A big man who can score down low and shoot almost 80 percent from the line is a rare breed. That improved free-throw stroke also shows that he has good touch and should be able to become a consistent threat from mid-range.

FanSided

If Cousins were able to hit that 15-17 foot jumper with regularity, it would force the defense to guard him tight farther from the basket. That would open up easier opportunities to pump fake and use his excellent-for-a-big-man handle to drive by slower centers.

Also, getting a few easy buckets off jumpers from mid-range could help boost his scoring and extend his career so that he doesn’t have to bang down low or get fouled for every point.

The challenge would be not to fall in love with his jumper and neglect what he does best, which is scoring in the paint. Considering how often he shoots from mid-range already—even though he isn’t that great yet—this could be a challenge. But with a more polished jumper and better shot selection, his offense could approach being considered “complete.”

This season is the Kings’ ninth in a row missing the playoffs. However, they might have a Hall of Fame talent making the leap. DeMarcus Cousins is already very good.

Can he be great?

Next: The 30 Best Centers Of All-Time

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