DeMarcus Cousins is an interesting individual. He’s obviously a very talented player. At 6-11, he’s shown off his tremendous skill set as a premier big man since his days at Kentucky. With a knack for scoring around the basket, rebounding at an alarming rate, and dishing off the rock like a pure point guard, he’s an all-around commodity. Yet, with every positive comes a negative. Cousins has always been a rambunctious character. Mouthing off at his coaches and taking plays off are becoming part of his trademark.

When coming into the league, many GMs labeled Cousins as your traditional high-risk, high-reward player. His talent was immense, yet this loquacious attitude against authority was a red flag.

One team that took a chance on him in the 2010 Draft was the Sacramento Kings. How has Sacramento fared thus fair with Cousins? Well, statistically he averaged 14.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a night in his rookie year before becoming an indomitable center the following year where his numbers skyrocketed to 18.1 points and 11 rebounds a game. While these gaudy numbers look good on paper, his team wasn’t able to reach the playoffs in either year, and the Kings are destined for the lottery yet again in 2013.

In addition to that, his bad boy persona has been on full display. His tumultuous relationship with former coach Paul Westphal came first. It was reported the two couldn’t see eye-to-eye about the team’s direction. Westphal sent Cousins home because he was “unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team; it cannot be ignored indefinitely.” Four days later, Westphal was fired.

Next up, current coach Keith Smart. During a game against the Clippers this year, Smart and Cousins fought during halftime. This lead to his suspension that was eventually lifted two days later. Now, after examining this, you have to think this marriage is over, right? Forget Dr. Phil, we need to part ways. Why not? The Kings are currently 12-20 this season, and are in need of a dire makeover. We had three seasons of the DeMarcus Cousins show, and unfortunately haven’t seen any positive results.

It’s no surprise people in Cousins’ camp are leaking teams he’d like to be traded to. Sacramento’s ownership doesn’t wish to trade their most talented player, but if the two sides continue to bump heads, a trade will be likely.

I love his game and would like to see him prosper in this league â€“ just not in Sacramento. Here are five places where I think DeMarcus could thrive, regardless of what they have to offer or don’t have (we’ve seen superstars get traded for virtually nothing in this league).

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