DeMarcus Cousins plans on going at Derrick Favors’ neck

DeMarcus Cousins is not in this league to make friends. That was readily apparent from summer league, where the combustible rook was often jawing with both opponents and teammates, and swinging the odd elbow. But his early preseason results have been significantly impressive, and he’s got bigger plans down the line, especially for the players NBA teams chose to select before him. Specifically, Nets forward and third overall pick Derrick Favors. Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports spoke with Cousins and “Boogie” made it pretty clear his intentions when the Kings face those players taken before him.

“I can’t wait to play them because I’m going at their necks, especially the big that got picked before me.”

Yikes. Thing is, it’s hard to blame Cousins. His stock dropped based off of concerns that aren’t rooted in any real-life event, Cousins has been clean since his sophomore year of high school. His little tantrums on the floor last year with Kentucky coach John Calipari? Pretty typical of a teenager. Cousins still had the most brutal combination of talent and size of any pick in the draft, and yet the Nets opted for a player with extremely limited offensive skill sets who may take years to turn anything productive out of himself. Cousins on the other hand was the best player on the Kentucky loaded squad last year, even better than first overall pick John Wall (though Wall is the only clear exception to this discussion as he was clearly the better pick for Washington). Cousins has shouldered the load and so far in Sacramento looks every bit like the one-man demolition crew they brought him in to be next to Tyreke Evans.

Language like that probably won’t sit well with the officials or with Favors. Keep your eyes peeled when the Nets and Kings meet up at Arco on November 19th. Few things better than two huge rookies going at it toe to toe. And the pressure’s on Cousins now to live up to his big words and Favors to defend his draft stock.