Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac sent a pretty clear message as to why the team traded DeMarcus Cousins.
The Kings officially announced the Cousins deal on Monday, and in the statement doing so, Divac offered the usual thanks to Cousins for his contributions and wished him well. There was one sentence, however, that seemed to go a bit off script, and sent a clear message that “character matters.”
Shots fired by Vlade in the official release. pic.twitter.com/4ja1ehxTUP
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 20, 2017
It’s quite clear that the Kings traded Cousins because of his frequent outbursts and inability to avoid technicals and butt heads with referees. He’s a fantastic player who appeared committed to Sacramento, but at some point, the organization simply decided he didn’t have the maturity and temperament to be the leader of a team. Their statement on the trade makes that blatantly clear.
Divac also said that he had a better deal on the table for Cousins a few days ago:
"I had a better deal two days ago." – Vlade Divac pic.twitter.com/xNzDch2K3W
— AP (@Ananth_Pandian) February 20, 2017
