This just in: Sacramento Kings centre DeMarcus Cousins has demanded a trade. That would be DeMarcus Cousins, age 21 and in his second year in the NBA.
My, they do grow up so quickly these days. Or at least their sense of entitlement does.
Asking for trades can be a risky business. Lamar Odom, miffed that he was included in a deal for Chris Paul that was blocked by the league, told the Los Angeles Lakers that he wanted out. They obliged by shipping him to the Dallas Mavericks, where he is shooting 16 per cent and scoring 4.6 points per game for a 1-4 team.
Kobe Bryant was lucky when the Lakers ignored his trade demand in the summer of 2007. They calmed him down by acquiring Pau Gasol early in 2008, and Bryant and the Lakers won two more titles.
NBA teams usually control trade negotiations, which is as it should be. Players gain power only when they enter the final season on their contract and have no intent to re-sign, as is the case with Orlando's centre Dwight Howard.
Then there is Cousins, who averaged 14.1 points per game as a rookie and now is pouting, continually demanding a trade and making himself such a problem that the Kings told him to stay home and sit out their game against the New Orleans Hornets.
He is making such a nuisance the Kings may try to move him. But by acting out, Cousins may have killed his own market value.
That is not an intelligent trade-off.
