Sacramento on the brink of securing their centre for the long-term.
The Sacramento Kings are on the cusp of re-signing DeMarcus Cousins to a large four-year deal worth more than $60 million.
The four-year maximum deal is one shy of the five-year max contract he was eligible for as the Kings try and get the best out of their mercurial big man.
At his best, Cousins can be classed as one of the top five centres in the NBA, however, he has a past history of making things tough for the struggling Kings.
The deal will start at the beginning of the 2014-15 and run through to the completion of the 2017-18 regular season.
Cousins has averaged 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in his sporadic career to date with pundits often left tearing their hair out that the centre has not started to fulfill his potential since being drafted in 2010.
Cousins’ volatility has likewise resulted in multiple suspensions, including a team-imposed ban last December for what the Kings termed unprofessional behavior, which is largely why Sacramento insisted on a four-year deal instead of a full five-year max.
The new ownership group of the Kings when combined with the stability that the Sacramento license will not be moved to another city are two key factors to maybe seeing the best version of Cousins to date.
New owner Vivek Ranadive said after minority owner Shaquille O’Neal joined the Kings he will spend time mentoring Cousins in the hope of turning him into a key piece for the Kings re-emergence in the West.
“So ‘Dr. O’Neal’ and I are going to have dinner with him on Monday night, and Dr. O’Neal is going to spend a couple of days with him and the team. So I’m very, very pleased with everything that I’m seeing,” Ranadive said.
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