Sacramento Kings Reluctant to Trade Suspended DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings have suspended DeMarcus Cousins once again — it’s his third suspension in two months — this time for verbally abusing head coach Keith Smart in front of teammates on Friday night. The team is believed to be unwilling to trade the talented but clearly-troubled big man. However, it bears noting that Cousins has fired his agent John Greig and is now represented by Dan Fegan (who was front and center during the Dwightmare in Orlando.) Per the Sac Bee: “This is a complete change in thinking by Cousins. His reasoning for going with Greig had been he didn’t want to be another client of another big-name agent. Cousins was Greig’s only big-name client. Greig made looking out for Cousins well-being a priority. He visited Cousins regularly (he was in town this month), cooking meals and was important in making sure many of Cousins’ off-the-court needs were met. Greig was one of Cousins’ biggest defenders, speaking on his behalf even when Cousins appeared to be clearly in the wrong and did his best to present Cousins’ side in controversial situations. But even Greig has had trouble getting through to Cousins lately. Enter Fegan, whose recent history with the Kings includes not liking the team passing on his client in the 2009 NBA Draft (Ricky Rubio) for Tyreke Evans. Fegan became Kevin Martin’s agent and later was instrumental in getting Martin traded to Houston in 2010. Fegan’s name was prominent last year after he became Dwight Howard’s agent. There was a public spat with the Orlando Magic over who was leaking information about meetings to the media, too. Of course, Howard was eventually traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Kings have been reluctant to deal Cousins. He’s been considered the key to the Kings’ rebuilding project, but on the court he’s regressed this season while the off-the-court issues have accelerated. Teams that have been interested in Cousins in the past include Houston and Detroit. But would Houston want to break up what they’ve built for Cousins now? It would be assumed any deal with Detroit would involve Greg Monroe, but at this rate you might argue Monroe is the better player and doesn’t bring the drama. Fegan also has a good relationship with former Kings assistant general manager Jason Levien, who is now a part of the Memphis Grizzlies. So expect some talk of Cousins landing there to come up, too. There’s no denying Cousins’ talent and several teams figure to inquire about Cousins, believing they have the right environment for Cousins. Let the speculation game begin.”