Washington Wizards: DeMarcus Cousins Trade Won't Fix All of Washington's Problems
Washington Wizards fans have been thinking about a potential deal to reunite John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, but that wouldn’t fix the Wizards’ problems.
The Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings were both entering Monday’s contest desperately looking for a victory.
Washington (5-10) and Sacramento (7-10) both made coaching changes in the off-season, with the Wizards replacing Randy Wittman with Scott Brooks and the Kings replacing George Karl with Dave Joerger.
Both Brooks and Joerger were coming off successful coaching stints in the Western Conference and carried their respective teams to winning seasons year after year.
Thus far, neither coaching change has worked, as both teams haven’t gotten the results they hoped for at the beginning of the season.
On Monday, neither the Wizards nor the Kings looked like they wanted to win.
Both teams played an ugly brand of basketball, but Bradley Beal‘s career-high 7 three point shots put the Wizards above the Kings in overtime, 101-95.
Inevitably, before tip-off, there was talk about potentially reuniting John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins in the nation’s capital.
The discussion has happened for seven years now, since Wall began his career in D.C.
Since neither team has contended for an NBA championship since their respective franchise players arrived, the thought of having the former Kentucky Wildcats together in the league has always been spoken about.
Before the game began, Boogie addressed the situation and openly talked about the possibility.
Boogie is arguably the best center in the league right now, averaging 28.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
In Monday’s matchup against the Wizards, Cousins led all scorers. He dominated the game and carried his team with 36 points, including a three, and 20 rebounds.
This would be Cousins’ fourth straight game scoring 30 points or more. Yet, his risks outweigh his benefits.
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For those who believe that Cousins is the elixir that will fix Washington’s problems, please think again.
First off, according to reports, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has no plans on trading Cousins.
There’s also a notion that Wall is the only person in the NBA that could “control” Cousins.
History, though, says otherwise.
He’s been in the league for seven seasons and continues to have the same outbursts that he had during his rookie year.
Even though he’s settled down in terms of technical fouls, Cousins still gets frustrated and becomes a black hole on offense.
He also tends to commit silly fouls when the game is on the brink of being determined.
Also, there are reasons to question a potential fit in D.C.
Brooks is having a difficult enough job rallying his group following a rough start to the season, so just imagine having to babysit Cousins and Markieff Morris, who has similar issues as the Kings’ center on the court.
There’s no question that Cousins is talented and could be one of the leading men on a winning team, but a deal, at least right now, seems farfetched.
His talent is also hindered by his stubborn nature.
If the Washington Wizards could find a player with Cousins’ talent but without his baggage, then they should absolutely pull the trigger.
But the team has enough problems. Would adding a player like Cousins truly fix the issues Washington is dealing with in-house? My gut says no.