The Sacramento Kings will be the circus everyone wants to see in the NBA with all their subplots, especially the one concerning Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins.
DeMarcus Cousins is the Sacramento Kings resident superstar and one of the best centers in the league. Despite rumored trades, the Kings are determined to keep him. To this end, they picked up Rajon Rondo.
Rondo used to be one of the best point guards in the league but his fall from grace was abrupt and dramatic. Most teams that coveted him shied away after his debacle last season with the Dallas Mavericks, especially after the publicized feud with his coach.
The best way to appease a frustrated superstar is to win, and when a team fails to do that, the NBA has many precedents of superstars bolting their team even with a longer contract and more money on the table. Last season saw Kevin Love force his way out; this year, there's LaMarcus Aldridge. The Kings needed to do something.
The challenge for the Kings is that they are not a free agent destination and the recent decisions of their front office specifically the coaching carousel and their draft recent choices, also make it hard for players to choose them. It seemed to be a perfect fit:the team that no one chooses and the player no one would sign.
But how will that affect DeMarcus Cousins, a player perceived to be volatile?
Critics are not so optimistic. On the surface, it's a rising center and a veteran All-Star guard with championship experience. But Sporting News points out that ""last season, a far bigger share of Rondo's assists went to mid-range jump shots than the average point guard." The implication for Cousins' game is that "this balanced out with fewer assists around the basket and fewer assists on above-the-break three-pointers."
Cousins' stomping ground is "around the basket" and this may pose a problem. Sad to say, that's not where it ends, as The Big Lead states:"The personalities on this team will lead to disaster. At the first sign of trouble, this powder keg will erupt."
Is this an unfounded exaggeration or are the critics onto something? Rondo, Cousins and the rest of the Kings can prove them wrong.