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[freeze]

George Karl ‘very confident’ he’ll make it work with DeMarcus Cousins
July 14, 2015
by Steve DelVecchio

The trade buzz surrounding DeMarcus Cousins seems to have run its course, and the Sacramento Kings star is now stuck in an incredibly awkward situation with a head coach who clearly wanted nothing to do with him as of two weeks ago. Now that it appears the Kings have their team in place, Karl is trying to do damage control.

On Monday, Karl and Cousins shared an awkward handshake during Sacramento’s Summer League game. Karl later told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that he is trying to move forward.

“I just said hello to him this afternoon,” the veteran coach said. “I don’t think it’s something we have to rush through. You got two guys that are very frustrated with losing, two guys that are somewhat stubborn and two guys that love to compete.

“Sometimes, that doesn’t work the first time you hang around. But you have to take your time to make it work. I’m very confident to make it work.”

Cousins, who didn’t look like he wanted to chat with Karl when they shook hands, only told Yahoo Sports that he was “straight” when asked about Karl on Sunday.

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive never had any intention of trading Cousins, and there was some indication that he almost fired Karl over shopping the 24-year-old center. Sacramento has not made the playoffs since 2006, but it now has an exciting core in place with Cousins, Rudy Gay and the addition of Rajon Rondo. The Kings also drafted Willie Cauley-Stein with the sixth overall pick.

“Ownership jumped up and made a play that probably cost them some money,” Karl said. “And then Vlade jumped up and got a lot of the guys that we wanted. And now as coaches we have to jump up and do our job.

“Our job is to make it work. Our job is to make it fit.”

If you want to know what the current relationship is like between Karl and Cousins, just ask Vlade Divac. And if you don’t believe him, this tweet from Cousins should give you some clarity. The two still have a long way to go.

and if it doesnt work, no biggie, mike ehrmantraut will kill him.

 

[casper90403]

ESPN.com still hasn't reported it.

ESPN.com is the worst site. They put things up 2 hours after everyone else does.

 

[tomdiginson]

Has Lawson always been this dumb or does it get worse as he gets older?

Dude seems to be getting dumber each year.

 

[earldagoat]

 

[awwsome]

****** putting the Kings the playoffs after adding one of the most washed PG's in the L last year and the coach and star player don't even **** with each other in the least.

 

[freeze]

****** putting the Kings the playoffs after adding one of the most washed PG's in the L last year and the coach and star player don't even **** with each other in the least.

i tried told em bro

 

[scotthallwithapick]

Great Ty make your trade value any lower. Can someone just give us a 2019 2nd round pick for him? Dump Haywood's salary? Anything.

 

[japanair21]

Who wants to pay around 1Billion dollars for Melo, Bron, CP3 and Wade? Owners wouldn't even be able to afford signing guys like that with no cap, so I disagree wholeheartedly. Unless those guys all took discounts to play together, which would be admirable, right?

Something tells me I don't think the Lakers, Knicks, and a few other teams wouldn't mind paying 200M a year for a stacked team.

As someone else mentioned, it would be terrible for 90% of the League that couldn't hold onto their stars regardless of where they're drafted.

You hardly ever see that loyalty in baseball. Again you could say the system is flawed and that the owners are capitalizing off of the players and making tons of money off of them, all of which is true. But guys like Dirk and Timmy have a special relationship with those cities.

The owners are going to make money regardless. That's never going to change. Getting rid of a salary cap where one player makes the most impact of any of the major three sports isn't the answer.

 

[earldagoat]

 

[scotthallwithapick]

It's not about taking money out of the owners hands tho. It's about having players getting properly compensated for their importance to the business that they're employed by.

 

[jc619er]

What a shame. Ty Lawson could have been great in this league and he's never taken that next step and now all he's doing is going backwards.

 

[bhzmafia14]

The 8th spot is going to be a toss up anyway, so putting the Kings in that list is not unrealistic IMO. You would like to think Utah and Phoenix (most likely) will make a jump, but I wouldn't put any money on them.

I would like to think Utah is another year away due to how young their squad is. Basically you have DAL, SAC, PHX, UTA, DEN competing for the last spot if we are expecting the top 7 teams to be GSW, HOU, LAC, MEM, SAS, OKC and NOP. None of those teams listed are heads and shoulders better than the other.

Karl sucks and all, but he's more likely to get his squad to the playoffs with decent talent than any of these other coaches not named Carlisle. But, I just think Dallas doesn't have enough talent right now.

 

[cashbanks]

Boogie looked like he couldn't get away from Karl quick enough.

 

[dacomeup]

Something tells me I don't think the Lakers, Knicks, and a few other teams wouldn't mind paying 200M a year for a stacked team.

As someone else mentioned, it would be terrible for 90% of the League that couldn't hold onto their stars regardless of where they're drafted.

You hardly ever see that loyalty in baseball. Again you could say the system is flawed and that the owners are capitalizing off of the players and making tons of money off of them, all of which is true. But guys like Dirk and Timmy have a special relationship with those cities.

The owners are going to make money regardless. That's never going to change. Getting rid of a salary cap where one player makes the most impact of any of the major three sports isn't the answer.

I mean, you still have to make a roster work. You can sign a bunch of talented players that don't fit together and still not win titles. 

That "special relationship" angle just isn't enough for me. Those guys stayed "loyal" to great organizations, so that makes it much easier. There's not many organizations in the league that are as committed to winning and actually know what they're doing. As a player, it's not worth that risk when this is literally the time in your life where you have your highest earning potential. 

 

[casper90403]

What a shame. Ty Lawson could have been great in this league and he's never taken that next step and now all he's doing is going backwards.

I actually think Ty has been better than expected in the NBA. I don't think anyone thought he would be great, but he's been way above average in his career, statistically speaking.

 

[japanair21]

It's not about taking money out of the owners hands tho. It's about having players getting properly compensated for their importance to the business that they're employed by.

Owners and stakeholders will always be the ones with the most to gain. They put up the money. They're the ones at risk. sounds messed up, but that's how it's always going to be.

 

[comptonprince]

Did the league suspend him for his 1st DUI?

 

[japanair21]

I mean, you still have to make a roster work. You can sign a bunch of talented players that don't fit together and still not win titles. 

That "special relationship" angle just isn't enough for me. Those guys stayed "loyal" to great organizations, so that makes it much easier. There's not many organizations in the league that are as committed to winning and actually know what they're doing. As a player, it's not worth that risk when this is literally the time in your life where you have your highest earning potential. 

Thats where a no salary cap situation gets dicey. What's the value of a James Harden as opposed to LeBron or Steph?

And if they put a max contract limitation out there with a no salary cap situation, that further introduces the likelihood of these super pacts.

Look at how terrible the Sixers have been over the past five or so years. Imagine if there was no salary cap. They'd be atrocious.

The TV deal is going down next summer. If the players aren't happy still, they can renegotiate via a lockout in a few years I believe?

As a fan, who commits a good chunk of money going to games, buying TV subscriptions, I'm not that concerned about LeBron making 25 million as opposed to 50-60 million. You already got guys like Wes Matthews making 17 million a year. I'd say most NBA players are justly compensated.

My biggest concern is having parity within the league. Which is another issue which can have solutions in other ways other than not having a salary cap.

 

[pmatic]

I'm not sure what you're talking about.

 

[freeze]

he's an alcoholic and he needs help. you dont get 2 dui's and not have a problem.

 

[awwsome]

Thats where a no salary cap situation gets dicey. What's the value of a James Harden as opposed to LeBron or Steph?

And if they put a max contract limitation out there with a no salary cap situation, that further introduces the likelihood of these super pacts.

Look at how terrible the Sixers have been over the past five or so years. Imagine if there was no salary cap. They'd be atrocious.

The TV deal is going down next summer. If the players aren't happy still, they can renegotiate via a lockout in a few years I believe?

As a fan, who commits a good chunk of money going to games, buying TV subscriptions, I'm not that concerned about LeBron making 25 million as opposed to 50-60 million. You already got guys like Wes Matthews making 17 million a year. I'd say most NBA players are justly compensated.

My biggest concern is having parity within the league. Which is another issue which can have solutions in other ways other than not having a salary cap.

You're going to have to miss me with NBA players being justly compensated, if that was the case, Bron makes 70 mill per.

The amount of money/success he's brought in just by returning to Cleveland is staggering, 20 million is not even close to what he should actually make.


There's no other business out there with these limits on earning potential. You bringing up parity and all that but these owners all have billions at their disposal and guys are turning down big markets team even when they have cap space currently.


If no salary cap kills parity, Yankees and Dodgers would win the World Series every year, the league would be better without it.

 

[dacomeup]

We've had virtually the same teams be dominant for decades with a salary cap in place. So, not sure about your parity argument if that's your main concern. 

 

[japanair21]

It's a lot easier to get 5-8 superstars in the NBA than it would be in baseball.

One great player can excel a team into contention. That just doesn't happen in basketball. Imagine if Dwight, Boogie, and CP3 joined the Heat during their run. They wouldn't have been stopped.

The salary limitations are two fold. Yes it does maximize profits for the owners. But it also keeps parity within the league.

I'm not opposed to an increased salary cap with increased maximum salaries. Bump the salary cap up to 130 million. Works for me. But there still need to be restrictions in place. It shouldn't be a free market. That encourages the most flexible owner to win.

I think this debate boils down to whether you think big spenders (ala Yankees) would dominate without a salary cap in the NBA. I personally think it would negatively impact the product, but can see where people would see differently. Agree to disagree.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Just penalize overspending and you won't have to worry about 8 superstars on one team. There's ways around it.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

I think the kings will exceed expectations if only because they have no expectations

ty lawson belongs in philly

here are some pictures of his thot

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