Cousins: Kings would have made playoffs with Malone coaching
Sacramento Kings All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins was a Michael Malone guy, and didn't take kindly to his former head coach losing his job following an 11-13 start to the 2014-15 regular season.
His relationship with George Karl, who the Kings recently fired after a disappointing 33-49 season, was rocky from the very beginning. The team won 30 or more games for the first time since drafting Cousins in 2010, but even so, the constant conflict between the two created a negative ripple effect through the locker room which needed to be abolished.
Had Malone continued to man the sidelines, Boogie believes the Kings would have seen their most success since he entered the league.
"We would have been a playoff team," Cousins said to Sports 1140 KHTK's Carmichael Dave Thursday. "The thing about that is, it was one goal in my mind at the end of the day: winning games. And the way that team was structured, the way the foundation was set for that team, that collective group, I believe it was done the right way. Of course, it didn't show on paper, but we were taking the right steps. It's never gonna happen overnight."
Sacramento currently owns the second-longest postseason drought (Minnesota Timberwolves) in the NBA at 10 years.
Malone earned a 39-67 (.368) record during his short stint with the Kings, while Karl wasn't much better at 44-68 (.393).
Cousins will enter the 2016-17 season playing for the sixth coach (Paul Westphal, Keith Smart, Malone, Tyrone Corbin, and Karl) of his career.