NBA Awards Watch: James Harden vs. Stephen Curry For MVP

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Mar 27, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

9. DeMarcus Cousins

56 games, 33.9 MPG, 24.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.7 BPG, 1.5 SPG, .468/—/.797 shooting, 25.4 PER

Last week: 9 (⇔‡”)

It’s time to honor the fallen. Pour one out for big DeMarcus Cousins, who’s had one of the best individual seasons we’ve seen a center have in quite some time. Pour one out for the Sacramento Kings, who will inevitably lose their franchise player once said franchise player realizes the cavalry isn’t coming to finally give him some help.

Pour one out for the loyal Kings fans who will have to endure that hardship the day it comes, most likely years down the road when their disgruntled star demands a trade out of frustration. Pour one out for the 2014-15 season, which started off so promising until the front office fired Mike Malone — the only coach Cousins has ever connected with.

Pour one out for Cousins trying to climb his way up this list, because if the Kings do decide to shut him down for their remaining nine games, we might have to drop him to No. 10 over the next few weeks. But mostly, pour one out for yourselves…provided you actually care about the impressive evolution of Boogie — despite his toiling away in a place where good basketball has been dead for a decade.

Next: No. 8 - Big Spain