Sacramento Kings: Will DeMarcus Cousins Show Improvement This Season?

Entering his fourth season, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, has been labeled many things, but an all-star label has eluded him thus far. Could this be the year Cousins breaks out and claims the honor as the best center in the league? Along with his several fits of rage on court, has been some spectacular flashes of brilliance that highlights the potential the former Kentucky Wildcat possesses.

In an off-season, where the Kings secured the center’s services through a contract extension, Cousins finally showed a willingness to finally mature and take responsibility of his team. Last season was flush with episodes that highlighted his immaturity, but this off-season the storyline has been–to Kings fans joy–nothing but positive.

During the current preseason, Cousins has demonstrated that he can be a dominant player in the middle for the Kings. After four games Cousins has averaged 21.3 points per game and 9 boards per game. If he were to extrapolate that into the regular season, we would see a King’s player in the All-star game in February.

This off-season, Cousins has been working with minority owner Shaquile O’Neal, to help with his game around the post.Watching the preseason highlights you can clearly see that he is markedly better on most aspects of his game.

One area that Cousins has to improve is finishing at the basket. As evidenced by his .465 field goal average last season, Cousins has a lot of work to do in that regard. For a big man to have a low field goal percentage hurts the team down the stretch. In critical moments of the game, in a half court offense, the big man is instrumental in drawing doubles to open his perimeter players and if singled, he will be counted on to beat his man to the basket.

Considering the fact that he is only 23 and has three years of experience in the NBA, will only help his development. DeMarcus Cousins is a very talented player and it is not a coincidence that the Kings hitched their wagons to him. Sacramento will live and die by their star center.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning, that all the potential in the world will come to naught if the player doesn’t show his growth as a person. Immaturity may be the only obstacle standing in Cousins’ way, if he can get out of his way, he could be a special player for years to come.

At the end of the day, the NBA is a star driven league and teams that want to win the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, must have a star on the roster. For the Sacramento Kings, that player should be DeMarcus Cousins.