Kings made right decision to move Boogie out of Sac

It has been 60 days since the Sacramento Kings made the right move and got rid of the “cancer” in their organization when they traded Demarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 19.

Fans of the Sacramento Kings had mixed emotions of despair and joy at letting the best big man in the NBA go and give up their chances at a potential opportunity to claim the eighth seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

National media outlets called the Kings organization “dysfunctional.”

Fans who called out to have General Manager Vlade Divac fired were wrong.

Even though Cousins was the clear MVP on the Kings roster, it was time to let him go and start the slate clean with a new and improved roster of young talent.

At first glance, it seemed that the Kings didn’t receive enough back in the trade when they received three players, including rookie guard Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, former Kings player Tyreke Evans and a first-round draft pick from New Orleans.

On the other hand, Cousins had the golden opportunity to reinvent himself and start fresh with a new team and another star around him in forward Anthony Davis.

It is still too early to say who the winner of this trade was because it is just based off of less than a third of a full season, but in the long run, the Kings will benefit from this trade the most.

Cousins’s issues on the court were noted over his six-year career in Sacramento. Cussing out players and coaches, barking at the refs after any contact was made on a play and the technical fouls added up over the years with a total of 108 in his seven-year career.

Hate or love him, Cousins’s emotions and actions on the court were scrutinized by national media outlets and everyone perceived Demarcus as a trouble maker.

Unfortunately, the media never caught sight of what Cousins meant to the community of Sacramento.

The countless acts of gratitude where he built basketball courts for certain parts of the community, helped families in need of holiday cheer and most notably took care of former Grant football player JJ Clavo’s funeral.

Cousins acted out of kindness and always wanted to remain anonymous when he did the good deeds, but someone always leaked his name to it.

Although Demarcus was a saint in the community, it didn’t change the mind of the Kings when they traded him to New Orleans right after the conclusion of the All-Star Game.

Before the trade occurred, the Kings’ record was 24-33 and they were just a game out of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

With trade talks happening all over the league, Divac assured Sacramento that Cousins wasn’t going anywhere. Instead he said Cousins was potentially getting a maximum extension after this season worth over $200 million for a five-year deal.

The Kings blindsided Demarcus with the trade and as wrong as it sounds, it was only going to happen that way.

Even though the Kings went 8-17 since the trade, their young talent showed promise for the future.

Sacramento’s stats stayed the same after the trade with New Orleans in every category which meant they really didn’t fall off because other players stepped up. The young talent will prevail and just needs time to let the process work its course.