Meanwhile, on the Cousins front...

[HndsmCelt]

Lets see him play some D, show up every night, show leadership and not be a borderline cancer on/off floor. If he starts show that this year than at the earliest we should be having this convo is next summer

Are you serious? We might just as well trade him to the Lakers for a couple expiring contracts anda1st round pick then. NOT offering him a max contract when he KNOWS he will get one some where, hell anywhere is an insult and he will not see it any other way. DANGLING the contract like treats for a beagle is beyond an insult.

BOTTOM LINE: Either DMC is the face of the franchise, the man we build around and therefore go all in on, OR he is not, there is no wait and see at this point,that ship has sailed. if we don't have faith in him then seriously we need to cut him loose and get ready to build a team from complete scratch.

 

[bajaden]

These are all nice example of blatant immaturity. If he acted like this I would be very thankful that we did not hand over the keys to him and would gladly show him the door.

Trust needs to be earned and he has not earned it. If I were Vivek and PDA and even Malone I would be very honest with DMC right now. I would tell him "we would love for you to be the face of the franchise and provide you with a max contract accordingly. Before we do that however, this next season we need to see max effort every night and more importantly the ability to lead this team by example."

He should be agreeable.

Trust is a two way street! Cousins could easily make a case that he has reason to mistrust the Kings. At least in the past. He gets called out at a meeting by Westphal, and when he goes to Westphal's office to ask why, and the whole thing blows up. So he yells at Westphal that if you don't like me, then trade me. The next day its a headline in the Bee. Thats called throwing a player under the bus. He gets in a teammates face for not running the play called, and he's called immature, and violatile. If Michael Jordan, or Duncan, or Lebron does it, its called leadership. Trust has been lost on both sides, and circling the wagons isn't the right approach with a player that feels he's misunderstood. This is no longer about us trusting Cousins, its about having Cousins trust us.

Cousins needs a coach that can not only help him grow as a player, but will protect him from himself. A lot of on court issues could have been avoided if the coach would have headed things off at the pass instead of just sitting there with a smile on his face while Cousins self destructed. When Cousins got hot with a ref at Kentucky, Calapari had him on the bench in a heartbeat. And not without consequence. Part of Cousins butt was missing when he went back into the game. But Cousins respected Calapari because he was a straight shooter. Things that happened in the lockerroom stayed in the lockerroom. Calapari said that Cousins was the smartest player on the team. He said most players would just do what he instructed them to do, but Cousins always wanted to know why they were doing it.

Malone is giving Cousins a clean slate, and a clean slate is a clean slate. It doesn't come with conditions based on past behavior. If it does, then its not a clean slate. Personally, I hope they extend him! I'd like to go forward without having to revisit the drama we just went through. If for some reason he doesn't work out, then he's a very tradable commodity. Trust me, there will be someone out there more than willing to trade for Cousins. So from that prespective, its a win/win as for as I'm concerned.

 

[VF21]

Trust is a two way street! Cousins could easily make a case that he has reason to mistrust the Kings. At least in the past. He gets called out at a meeting by Westphal, and when he goes to Westphal's office to ask why, and the whole thing blows up. So he yells at Westphal that if you don't like me, then trade me. The next day its a headline in the Bee. Thats called throwing a player under the bus. He gets in a teammates face for not running the play called, and he's called immature, and violatile. If Michael Jordan, or Duncan, or Lebron does it, its called leadership. Trust has been lost on both sides, and circling the wagons isn't the right approach with a player that feels he's misunderstood. This is no longer about us trusting Cousins, its about having Cousins trust us.

Cousins needs a coach that can not only help him grow as a player, but will protect him from himself. A lot of on court issues could have been avoided if the coach would have headed things off at the pass instead of just sitting there with a smile on his face while Cousins self destructed. When Cousins got hot with a ref at Kentucky, Calapari had him on the bench in a heartbeat. And not without consequence. Part of Cousins butt was missing when he went back into the game. But Cousins respected Calapari because he was a straight shooter. Things that happened in the lockerroom stayed in the lockerroom. Calapari said that Cousins was the smartest player on the team. He said most players would just do what he instructed them to do, but Cousins always wanted to know why they were doing it.

Malone is giving Cousins a clean slate, and a clean slate is a clean slate. It doesn't come with conditions based on past behavior. If it does, then its not a clean slate. Personally, I hope they extend him! I'd like to go forward without having to revisit the drama we just went through. If for some reason he doesn't work out, then he's a very tradable commodity. Trust me, there will be someone out there more than willing to trade for Cousins. So from that prespective, its a win/win as for as I'm concerned.

Very well said.

 

[Kingster]

I highly doubt the Kings are going to award Cousins a max contract before the season begins. Sure, they'll talk to him, they'll express interest in him and try to get to know him. But they're not going to offering any max contract to him without experiencing the Cuz during the regular season. They'll see how Cousins and Malone get along. They'll see if Cousins is a team player and a professional. Then they'll make a determination. If Cousins is a new man and things go swimmingly, then he will be a lot richer in the Kings uni. If, on the other hand, the past is prologue, then they'll be looking to get a high pick in the 2014 draft and other considerations. I think it's a 50-50 proposition. I sure wouldn't bet the house on it one way or the other.

 

[ParniValjak]

I highly doubt the Kings are going to award Cousins a max contract before the season begins. Sure, they'll talk to him, they'll express interest in him and try to get to know him. But they're not going to offering any max contract to him without experiencing the Cuz during the regular season. They'll see how Cousins and Malone get along. They'll see if Cousins is a team player and a professional. Then they'll make a determination. If Cousins is a new man and things go swimmingly, then he will be a lot richer in the Kings uni. If, on the other hand, the past is prologue, then they'll be looking to get a high pick in the 2014 draft and other considerations. I think it's a 50-50 proposition. I sure wouldn't bet the house on it one way or the other.

And it wouldn't be the first stupid thing the new leadership has done this off-season!

 

[HndsmCelt]

And suddenly the question no longer is should we offer Cousins an extension? Now I really have to wonder if he would accept it. If I am DMC I might seriously be looking at the rebuilding of the Celtics or the Lakers.

 

[kingjatt]

And suddenly the question no longer is should we offer Cousins an extension? Now I really have to wonder if he would accept it. If I am DMC I might seriously be looking at the rebuilding of the Celtics or the Lakers.

it doesnt matter, for this contract its not his choice if we offer it within the proper time period (by oct 31st i believe?) and he refuses to sign we can still match anything he gets out in restricted free agency, so basically we control his fate for the next four years, unless of course he becomes more of a malcontent and demands a trade etc...

 

[HndsmCelt]

it doesnt matter, for this contract its not his choice if we offer it within the proper time period (by oct 31st i believe?) and he refuses to sign we can still match anything he gets out in restricted free agency, so basically we control his fate for the next four years, unless of course he becomes more of a malcontentt and demands a trade etc...

You answered your own question there. Do YOU want to see what an unhappy DMC looks like on the team?

I was originally being slightly facetious in that I can't imagine DMC is too thrilled about the team being assembled around him right now. This was not meant to be a completely serious assessment on weather or not DMC will be offered the Max extension or not, simply pointing out that at this point he may not WANT one from Sacramento.