This season has been anything but a Boogie Wonderland for DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings. Having to endure a host of moving parts, clashing personalities, and changing roles, the team has sputtered to an 11-16 record so far and Cousins admitted on Sunday that all the tumult has thrown him off his game.
“I’m lost right now,” the 25-year-old Cousins said to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “It’s uncomfortable most nights, but I’m still trying to find a way to fight through it and and still impact the game. My game has changed a lot this season; my role has changed a lot, so I’m just trying to find my way.”
Not a lot would appear to be in discordance upon looking at the former No. 5 overall pick’s averages of 24.6 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game this season. But Cousins is shooting a career-low 42.0 percent from the field, which is a revolting number for a big man. This has largely been because the league’s small-ball upheaval has forced the All-Star center to shift his game more out towards the perimeter. After taking an average of 0.2 three-pointers in his first five seasons, now Cousins is all of a sudden averaging 3.9 three-point attempts per game (connecting on 31.1 percent of them) and his average field goal attempt distance this season of 10.2 feet is by far a career high (per Basketball Reference).
Also contributing to the disarray is that Cousins has missed seven games with various injuries and has fought through constant chemistry concerns with head coach George Karl. The situation has gotten so out of hand that the speculation of a Cousins trade out of Sacramento seems to grow louder and louder by the day (though Kings general manager Vlade Divac continues to insist that the big man is “off the table” in trade talks).
It’s a pretty bad sign when your franchise player openly admits that he is uncomfortable on the team most nights. But in a franchise that has been chock full of bad signs in recent months and years, this probably qualifies as just another day at the office for owner Vivek Ranadive and the Sacramento Kings.
H/T Rotoworld
