DeMarcus Cousins is not as upset with the direction of the Sacramento Kings this offseason as we may think. Or, that’s what he wants us to believe, at least.
After a Team USA practice on Monday, Cousins was asked about some of the moves the Kings have made in free agency and the draft.
“I do my job,” he said, per Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I can’t control (the draft). I control what I can control.”
Perhaps more telling, Cousins was asked specifically about his team’s decision to trade down from the No. 8 spot in the draft to select two work-in-progress centers at No. 13 and No. 28.
“I really don’t understand it, but I do my job,” he replied.
It’s hard to interpret those responses as anything but frustration. But on Tuesday, Cousins told Michael Lee of The Vertical that the headlines he created this week are just another example of the media putting a negative spin on everything he says.
“I’m trying to figure out what I said wrong. Of course, they’ve twisted it into something negative, in some type of way,” Cousins said. “I’m clueless. It’s to the point now, where I don’t want to say anything about any situation. Then I’ll be the bad guy about that as well. Anything I do. Anything I do, it’s … it’s whatever, man.”
The thing is, no one would really blame Cousins for being annoyed. Sacramento is that classic organization that can’t make any progress because it takes one step forward and two back (how’d that whole George Karl thing work out?). Cousins, who is smack-dab in the middle of his prime at age 25, averaged 26.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last season. The Kings still won just 33 games and missed the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year.
If you remember, Cousins also sent a seemingly cryptic tweet on draft night a few weeks ago, but he insisted that was just bad timing. We aren’t buying it, and the Kings probably aren’t either.
