For the Sacramento Kings, Resting DeMarcus Cousins is Beneficial

"“It’s been a circus, man. It’s been a complete circus.” – DeMarcus Cousins to Washington Post’s Michael Lee"

Three coaches, the best start for a Sacramento Kings‘ team in 10 years and a viral infection. To say the least, the Kings’ season has been a circus and Cousins has been the main attraction. Well, now that headline of a player is battered and bruised and the Kings are basically playing for their paychecks, resting Boogie is the best thing for him, as well as the Kings.

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While catapulting his name into, not only the Sacramento fans, but fans around the world’s “best center in the league” discussions, Cousins has also been forced to deal with, and carry, the lack of talent the Kings team possesses. Rudy Gay was a prominent pairing, but the rest of the Kings haven’t been able to hold their own on a team destined to finish with less than 30 wins, again.

For that very reason, Cousins should take days off as needed, especially with the Kings’ addition of the first Indian-descent NBA player, Sim Bhullar. The Kings had been working to get Bhullar in NBA shape with their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, due to Bhullar being overweight by their standards, and thus not prepared for the speed of NBA play. The 7’5″ center is making quite a bit of noise even though he hasn’t touched the floor during a game since his call-up on Thursday.

Even with George Karl at the reigns, the Kings haven’t been able to post a record above .500%, but to be fair, the Kings have had their fair share of the injury bug during that stretch; it started with starting point guard Darren Collison going down for the season, and then Cousins and Gay began having their own ongoing injuries.

Cousins has missed 17 games for the Kings this year, though 10 came at the beginning of the season due to the viral meningitis, but he’s also missed three of the last eight Kings’ games due to ankle, hip, and calf injuries, as well as just pure rest.

It’s understandable that fans don’t appreciate the fact that some players get beaten up during an 82-game season and that they should “man up”, but with Cousins being the Kings’ future and this season being essentially meaningless, there’s plenty resting on the shoulders of the Kings’ first All-Star in 11 years.

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His 24 points and 12 rebounds per game have been a sight to see, and his consecutive games with triple-doubles this week were one of the great big-man performances of recent memory. However, both were all but negated by the Kings 48th and 49th losses of the year.

The Kings have been looking to the future since they fired Mike Malone and hired Karl, and to protect that future, Cousins needs to take games off here and there for the rest of the season. It’s not going to have any long-term affects on the team, and it could give Cousins some extra rehab time as a forgetful season winds down.

Next: What Does Chris Mullin's Departure Mean For Sacramento?