It was never going to happen.
The moment Vlade Divac pushed the giant red "break in case of emergency" button and sent DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans, his time in Sacramento was eternally over.
Cousins signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday afternoon. He was one of the consolation prizes for LA after missing out in the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes.
The details of Cousins' contract are reportedly one-year, at $3.5 million. A combination of injuries and baggage have kept Cousins from being a hot ticket on the open market.
Cousins' one-year deal with the Lakers is $3.5M. https://t.co/nXaFChoG3C— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
The fact that he has to play for what amounts to NBA pocket change was unthinkable just a few seasons back. He was a star level player and one of the most dominant big men in the league.
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After missing out on a super max money deal in Sacramento that would have paid him over $200 million, Cousins has tried to fight his way back into the big money conversation.
An Achilles tear cost him a year of action. A quad tear in the playoffs showed that he rushed back too soon in pursuit of a title.
Los Angeles is quickly putting together a roster of misfit toys, like they did last season. The main difference is that they've added Anthony Davis to the mix.
Danny Green inked a two-year, $30 million deal. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope re-upped at two-years, $16 million, and Rajon Rondo landed back in LA on a two-year contract where he'll rejoin Cousins for a third time and Davis for a second tour.
Cousins may start alongside Davis, like they did in New Orleans. Or he could come off the bench behind JaVale McGee. Either way, he is part of a collective, no longer the headliner on an NBA marquee.
For Sacramento, Cousins was a get out of jail free card. After continuously missing out on the postseason, Divac dealt the 6-foot-11 center at the right moment in their timeline.
With a hard reset, Divac was able to land Buddy Hield, the 10th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and an early second round pick.
Just a game out of the playoffs at the time of the trade, Sacramento fell out of contention and retained their own 2017 pick, which was owed to the Bulls if outside the top 10. After moving up and down the draft board, the Kings eventually landed the fifth pick in the draft where they selected De'Aaron Fox.
Divac turned the 10th pick in that draft into the 15th and 20th pick via the Trail Blazers, where he selected Justin Jackson and Harry Giles.
From one transaction, the Kings have been able to reboot their entire franchise. Almost every move since can be traced back to the deal that sent Cousins to the Pelicans.
Sacramento packaged Jackson to the Dallas Mavericks along with Zach Randolph for Harrison Barnes. Randolph was signed with some of the money that would have gone to Cousins.
Nothing is guranteed when it comes to injuries, but if Cousins would have signed his deal in Sacramento and then had the same string of setbacks, it would have been devastating to the franchise.
Instead of paying Cousins over $40 million next season, the Kings have a young core and they spent their extra cash adding Dewayne Dedmon, Cory Joseph, Trevor Ariza and Rachaun Homes this summer.
After capping out at 33 wins with Cousins, the Kings won 39 last season and they have higher aspirations this season. They have a youth movement to build around and cap flexibility moving forward.
Cousins is getting another shot at redemption with the hope that he can stay healthy and rebuild some of his worth on the open market.
There was a moment when Cousins was the face of the Sacramento Kings franchise. That moment has passed and the Kings aren't looking back.
Divac made the bold and difficult decision to rip off the band-aid, deal his franchise player and start fresh. It's worked out so far for the Kings' general manager, but not so much for Cousins.
