Cousins close to extension with Sacramento

[Galeto]

Shaq said he was going to mentor Cousins and help make him the best, now Shaq is a minority owner... this makes even more sense.

http://www.chatsports.com/boston-celtics/a/Shaquille-O039Neal-joining-Kings-ownership-group-0-8522176


Just found this b/c I remembered Shaq saying he was gonna mentor him, looks like Cousins wants that too!

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/2854625

if it helps Cousins to mature and develop as a player, having Shaq buy a minority stake in the team was the best thing that could have ever happened to that franchise

I'm trying to think of a single example where a knucklehead was "mentored" into not being a knucklehead anymore...  not thinking of any.  Guys who respond well to being taken under a veteran's wing are usually players who are pretty well self-motivated to begin with - and realistically, how much is a retired Shaq going to be around?

Chris Mullin's career was saved when Don Nelson helped him to sober up.

Our beloved Paul Pierce was known as a bit of a knucklehead earlier in his career.

If you mean by knucklehead, his joke with the bandage after a playoff game, well that was overblown.  His body language on the bench when things weren't going well wasn't good but he played hard, he supported his teammates and he didn't get suspended every year for his behavior.  There were no knocks on his character.  There is no comparing the two. Cousins is like San Antonio era Dennis Rodman but much dumber on the court, less hard working and make up free.  Cousins isn't a knucklehead, he's a mental head case who was known for being a head case since his high school days.  To top it off, he's not really all that good.  His bad defense is a killer and his scoring efficiency sucks. 

[Monkhouse]

I've always been an advocate of Cousins. Now? Not too sure....

Methodically, I thought with the rumors floating around of a new ownership, and a new stadium/relocation that this would've perked up Cousin's enthusiasm, but it seems like he's getting tired of playing here. You can see his stress, and lackluster motivation playing for a crappy team, that won't progress, has had scandals, and cheap owners who really couldn't care what happened to the organization. Then yeah I understand.

What I don't understand is why players make it this excuse... You are supposed to be a professional... This is your job. Look at Michael Beasley, 2nd round draft pick behind Rose, and imagine where the Bulls would be if they had chosen him. Of course, who knows whether or not future coaches under the Bulls system could've really made Beasley a dominant player, but he sure as heck wasn't in the other teams previous times.

If you don't like your team, then guess what? Boo-hoo. This is your job, and you're supposed to do it whether or not your disgruntled.

So what if the NBA has unanimously anointed you the most hated player next to Lebron? Suck it up. These people get paid like millionaires every year, but complain, and moan about it.

If I had the talent that Cousins had, I'd work my butt off to ensure my talent didn't go to waste...

This is why I hate players like Cousins, Beasley, Joe Forte, etc.

You have this potential that needs to be tapped, but you're too unmotivated/lazy...

TL;DR: Cousins is a lazy and unmotivated player with superstar caliber potential. Athletes who complain and moan about their job, and yet get paid millions of dollars, while not contributing anything of value except entertainment to society.
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The only problem with Cousins is his efficiency. He has one of the worst efficient percentages in the league, considering even John Wall is better. The number one reason is that he's more likely to shoot the ball, rather than push and play in the post. Sure he scores a lot, but half of them are forced shots, or terrible shots with a couple jumpers mixed in between.

I think if we can grab Cousins for a nice deal of possibly Sullinger, Bradley or Green, a couple first round picks, then you must do it.

If Rondo can just feed Cousins in the post for some easy layups, then I can see something amazing happening between the two. There is no true facilitator, and Isiah Thomas is a shooting guard way below his average height playing to a position he doesn't seem comfortable in.

Cousins is more likely to take a jump shot than Bosh, not to mention his mid range jumper within 10-15 feet is actually close to one of the worst in the league... He's basically chucking up inefficient shots from the start, to not even making half of them.

The problem is the Kings shouldn't give him a huge contract or max extension... Because if he blows up, it'll be also near impossible to trade him without giving up valuable picks or anything else packaged. No one is going to want to take a chance on an overpaid rookie going straight to max contract, if they don't even have the credentials to back it up.

I think the Celtics should try to make a deal to grab him. He definitely seems like someone who we could mold, and I think he'd be content with playing with Rondo who he knows as a good teammate, and a new coach who seems genuinely interested in his players. Cousins always said he wanted everyone to look at him different, and where else a rebuilding Celtics team that is on the verge of needing 1-2 superstar to re-contend?