DeMarcus Cousins may not be the most agreeable player in the draft, but he has to be among the most talented. Cousins’ combination of size, skills, and potential has many scouts swooning, yet it seems like teams in the lottery are looking for reasons not to take him. Obviously no coach or GM wants to give themselves a perpetual headache if there are other options available (and the general appreciation of Derrick Favors’ game gives decision-makers the way out they so desperately crave), even if Cousins turns out to be a hell of a player.
That has to stop somewhere, as one lucky lottery team was going to watch Cousins fall into their lap. That team is apparently the Sacramento Kings; Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Kings will take Cousins with the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft, ending his mini-slide and leaving the Warriors and Pistons in the cold.
DeMarcus isn’t coming into the league as a professional per se, but he’s still a hell of a prospect. Statistically speaking, his ability to do serious damage in limited minutes should have NBA fans salivating. He averaged 25.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per 40 minutes in his freshman season at Kentucky, and that level of elite production will be handed over to an NBA team ready to utilize his 6'10'’ frame.
Character matters, and there are many aspects of Cousins’ personality that would qualify as turn-offs. The same is true of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. I don’t mean to inflate expectation by dropping Cousins’ name in with those two, but they stand as proof that flawed people can still be incredible players. DeMarcus is admittedly of a different breed, but as long as he’s producing on the court and not making too much of a mess off of it, he’s worth the trouble.