A Candid Conversation On The Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins

As January 2016 closes up shop, we discuss the fantastic month and progress of the Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins.

Jan 7, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) and Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) lineup for a free throw during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 118-115. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The month of January is a special one for NBA scorers. No one will ever forget the barbaric 43.4 PPG Kobe Bryant averaged in January 2006. It was a shelling of shots for 30 straight days and it made Lakers basketball incredibly fun even when they weren’t winning.

Fast forward a decade and we’re looking at another special scoring month, for another Pacific division player. In the month of January the often criticized Sacramento Kings went a respectable 8-7. Boogie Cousins carried an impressive load, averaging 31.5 PPG, 12.9 RPG and 3.1 APG, and he did so with a sparkling TS% of .565 throughout the month.

It was an impressive month to say the least. But how impressive, how far has Cousins come? Earlier this month we did a round table on Draymond Green where some claimed that they’d take Green over Cousins. Does that still hold?

The chart below shows the top scoring performances in January over the last 20 years.

Rk	Player	Season	Pos	G	GS	MP	FG%	2P%	3P%	FT%	PTS
1	Kevin Durant	2013-14	F	16	16	612	.549	.597	.436	.890	575
2	Kobe Bryant	2005-06	G-F	13	13	541	.470	.502	.397	.897	564
3	Kobe Bryant	2011-12	G-F	17	17	665	.455	.497	.292	.845	531
4	Allen Iverson	2000-01	G	15	15	666	.455	.477	.344	.827	519
5	Tracy McGrady	2003-04	F-G	16	16	650	.436	.469	.381	.806	514
6	Glen Rice	1996-97	F	16	16	710	.503	.515	.475	.879	508
7	Kevin Durant	2012-13	F	16	16	634	.529	.586	.398	.917	506
8	LeBron James	2005-06	F-G	15	15	627	.487	.526	.356	.656	492
9	Michael Jordan	1997-98	G-F	16	16	635	.471	.484	.280	.853	491
10	Allen Iverson	2001-02	G	15	15	656	.416	.439	.292	.853	489
11	Dwyane Wade	2009-10	G	17	17	601	.515	.552	.371	.745	484
12	Kevin Durant	2009-10	F	15	15	600	.519	.516	.532	.898	481
13	DeMarcus Cousins	2015-16	C-F	15	15	547	.480	.488	.422	.729	473
14	LeBron James	2009-10	F-G	15	15	586	.503	.570	.356	.753	461
15	Carmelo Anthony	2013-14	F	16	16	603	.452	.438	.494	.841	459

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

With the above context it’s safe to say Cousins had a very special month. Thanks to his January scoring barrage he now sits fourth in the league for scoring (27 PPG). He trails Kevin Durant by only 0.2 PPG for the third spot as well.

With the special month Boogie just had in mind, I wanted to take some time to break down just where Boogie is at, how far he has come as a player, and how high his ceiling really is. So with that said, I’ve prepared a roundtable for your enjoyment.

Let’s get to it, below are your contributors, the following pages have their takes on the man called Boogie.

The contributors of the round table:

Jabari A. Davis – Contributor for lakersnation.com – @JabariDavisNBA

Mason Ginsberg – Contributor for ESPN’s TrueHoop Network, via bourbonstreetshots.com – @MasonGinsberg

Justin Rowan – Contributor for fearthesword.com and hoopshabit.com – @Cavsanda

Jamie Thomas – Host for Sportsnet Central – @SNJamieWThomas

Phil Watson – Editor for hoopshabit.com – @FurtherReview

Jeremy Woo – Contributor for Sports Illustrated – @Jeremy_Woo

Next: Is DeMarcus Cousins an elite player?