A mistake to pass on Cousins? Teams will find out soon

Teams called the University of Kentucky before the draft and got positive reports of a good kid. A 19-year-old wandering through games, a freshman who did not handle criticism well, a major prospect who lacked discipline to where it cost him big money -- yes, yes and yes -- but mostly a nice guy with the right intentions who just needs to grow up. That temper, though.

"I've seen it get out of hand," said Daniel Orton, one of DeMarcus Cousins' college teammates last season.

Out of hand?

"It's kinda like watching a little kid throw a temper tantrum," Orton said. "But it's a big little kid, so you've got to kind of control it before he gets way out of hand. He may hurt somebody, to tell you the truth."

Someone like Derrick Favors, nothing personal.

Something like the Prudential Center, in danger of being turned to rubble in the opening days as the Nets transitional home in Newark, N.J., and giving new meaning to the phrase "temporary shelter" in the two scheduled bridge seasons between the Meadowlands and Brooklyn.

Cousins is somewhere between wanting to make a point and downright upset, but a couple teams may want to move to DEFCON 2 either way, just to be on the safe side. His debut is next Wednesday with the Kings at Minnesota, one of the teams that passed on him in the draft, and his second contest is next Friday at New Jersey, which not only passed but picked another big man, to be followed soon by Sacramento facing the Timberwolves at home in its seventh game and the Nets at Arco Arena in its 11th.

It's not terribly serious, with Cousins himself relaxing what had first felt like a blood oath to seek revenge on the snubbing, and Thanksgiving 2010 is obviously no time to be ruling on draft decisions. It's also not rare -- players issuing vendettas on teams that didn't pick them, trade for them or sign them are pretty common, and sometimes even comical. But it does bring major decisions from that June night in New Jersey, Minnesota and Sacramento under a bright light, and that is interesting stuff.

Cousins would be one of the most-watched, most-analyzed, most-debated draft outcomes anyway -- great talent as a physical presence with passing skills. However there were great questions about his work ethic and whether he has the drive to max out the potential or would spend his career as a source of frustration. He's the kind of player teams love but the kind of guy who shows to the pre-draft combine with the second-highest percentage of body fat among the 52 prospects who took physicals. So, he was regarded by many front offices as the No. 2 talent and No. 1 big man... and went to the Kings at five.

Cousins, a projected center who will likely also play power forward this season, lasted until after point guard John Wall went to the Wizards and swingman Evan Turner went to the 76ers. And Favors, a power forward, went to the Nets. And Wesley Johnson, a shooting guard, went to the Timberwolves.

None of which went unnoticed by Cousins. Wall and Turner, OK, but another big ahead of him? That stuck, even if Favors is a friend. And he had to know the Minnesota choice was a Johnson-Cousins choice. But then the amazing coincidence of the regular-season schedule came out -- two games against the Nets and two more against the Timberwolves within the first 3 ½ weeks -- and the Revenge Tour was initially set.

But, "I'm really past that now," Cousins said a few days ago. "I'm happy with the team I'm with. Everything happens for a reason, and I fell in the right place and I believe it's the right place. The teams picked who they needed to pick and who they felt they needed, so I respect them for it.

"I believe I was the best big to come out of college. There was no disrespect toward Derrick for that. I do want to put that out. There was no disrespect toward Derrick. I have a lot of respect for Derrick. But I do feel I was the best big man to come out of college."

Are you going to be especially amped to show the Nets, he is asked, even if it's not specifically about Favors?

"Yeah," Cousins said. "I am."

So maybe he's not really, really past that now.

"I think it's sort of in the background now, but it's there," said Otis Hughley, Cousins' high school coach in Mobile, Ala., who was hired as a Kings assistant in the summer. "He's so focused on trying to do the things he needs to be productive here that I think it's taken a back seat. But it didn't get out of the car. It's still in the car. He's young. He's innocent that way. Kids will tell you just about what they're thinking. He's that kind of kid. He's just innocent that way. He doesn't have any malice or any vendetta. He just wants to say, 'You guys, what you've been saying and what you think about me, it's not true. I want to show you.'

"I don't know if vendetta is the right word as much as...."

"Motivating tool?" someone interjects.

"Yeah," Hughley said. " 'Hey, look, you guys, you passed on me because you thought this. I'm going to show this is who I really am.' "

He gets his chance opening night in Minneapolis. And two days later in Newark. And two more times in quick succession in Sacramento.

Maybe Cousins has a point to make or maybe it really isn't a big deal anymore. He's a good guy, after all, and 20 years old now and scheduled to start at center with offseason acquisition Samuel Dalembert sidelined.

That temper, though.

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

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