Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
New coach Michael Malone has a lot of work to do with the Sacramento Kings as he gets ready for the NBA draft later this month. Among Malone’s first decisions will be figuring out what to do with DeMarcus Cousins, who is obviously a major talent but has also been a head case at times.
Malone needs to figure out who the nucleus of this team will be and build around it. It was obvious that Keith Smart was not going to be able to coach under the prevailing circumstances, and someone else needed to come in and deal with the current situation. Malone will have his hands full.
Malone is known as a coach who loves to draw up plays, watch film and and come up with defensive schemes. Thats the type of stuff he needs to come up with for the Kings next season if he’s to have a playoff team on his hands. Getting the team to play together will also be critical, but that’s why Malone may tell his bosses that Cousins needs to go. Cousins could prove to be a selfish player too many times and the Kings have to determine whether or not that would disrupt the team.
Cousins is going to play for someone. If it’s not the Kings, someone else will have a very talented player. That’s why Malone needs to determine if the place for Cousins is Sacramento or somewhere else.
The Golden State Warriors improved immensely during Malone’s stint as an assistant coach with his defensive excellence. He’s hoping to make the Kings a better defensive team. But he needs to find out if Cousins wants to be a part of that.
