Posted by: Matt George – Cowbell Kingdom
Put down the torches and pitchforks. Call off the witch hunt. For all the people calling for Vlade Divac’s job and Vivek Ranadive’s head, take a deep breath and consider your reasons. The Sacramento Kings have traded away DeMarcus Cousins, their biggest superstar since Chris Webber, for a rookie with unproven potential and a mid-first round draft pick.
The angry masses claim that doing so shows that Divac and the Kings, have zero direction. However, trading Cousins is the first decision with clear direction that the franchise has made in years.
The Sacramento Kings were toeing a dangerous line. Despite their recent wins and better play, they were in a similar situation, record wise, to last season and right in the middle of the worst place they could be. It’s called NBA purgatory.
Rudy Gay called Sacramento “NBA hell” when former Kings head coach George Karl was hired. NBA purgatory is worse. With Cousins on the roster, the Sacramento Kings were too good to fall within the bottom 10 teams in the league in order to keep their draft pick from falling to the Chicago Bulls and not good enough to make it to the NBA Playoffs.
Had the season ended right at the all-star break, Sacramento Kings fans would still have Cousins on their roster, but would soon recognize their situation was even worse than it is now. No playoffs, no draft pick, and a superstar expecting a massive payday.
Divac and the Sacramento Kings front office had a choice to make; go all-in for the playoffs or try and salvage the draft pick from Chicago. The original plan was playoffs, hence the reason why Matt Barnes was brought in this offseason.
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