Sacramento Kings: 2016-17 Season Outlook, Predictions

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Mar 16, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) looks on during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /

Three Key Storylines: 2. What’s Going On With Boogie?

For years now, DeMarcus Cousins has been forcibly plopped on the trade block over and over, only for the front office to quash the rumors each and every time.

But given the front office’s inability to put a quality team around their franchise player, given Boogie’s temperament and his Herculean efforts year in and year out to carry a sorry team to 30 wins, and given how many centers occupy a spot on this roster now, the question needs to be asked: Are the Kings positioning themselves for a blockbuster Cousins trade?

It’s no secret there’s been frustration on both sides of this union. Though Boogie continues to crank out career years, he’s never made the playoffs. Joerger will be his sixth head coach in seven seasons, the only coach he ever saw eye-to-eye with was fired, and he once compared his time in Sacramento to God giving his hardest battles to only the strongest of warriors.

The Kings, meanwhile, have had to deal with a surly franchise star as renowned for his technical fouls and emotional outbursts as he is for his talent. With so much public unease on both sides, one has to wonder if the Kings are considering a complete roster rehaul centered around talented young players and future draft picks — the likely asking price in any trade talks for Boogie.

Unfortunately, the Kings have been desperate to return to the postseason as they’re going on 11 straight years without the playoffs. Perhaps Sacramento isn’t positioning itself for a trade; perhaps the front office legitimately thinks downgrading from Rondo, Curry and Acy to Collison, Lawson, Tolliver and Afflalo will actually get them back to the playoffs.

If — and when — the Kings fail to make the playoffs again in 2016-17, this ongoing DeMarcus Cousins soap opera will get dangerously close to its climax. With only two years left on his contract, the clock is already ticking towards an inevitable, messy breakup.

Over the next season or so, the pressure is on for the Kings to either make serious progress under Joerger or come to grips with the idea of trading Cousins before he walks in free agency in 2018.

Next: Storyline 3: Joerger Bomb?

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