One year ago, the Sacramento Kings were adding the final touches to a four-year contract extension for their up-and-coming star, DeMarcus Cousins. Fast-forward 12 months and the 24-year-old is coming off his best season as a pro, a full campaign with the USA Basketball World Cup Team and he enters Training Camp as one of the team’s cornerstones.
“DeMarcus is a unique talent with skills rarely witnessed at the center position," said General Manager Pete D'Alessandro during the signing. "His combination of size, quickness and athleticism lends an invaluable dimension to our team now and in seasons to come. We look forward to watching DeMarcus continue his development into one of the best players in the game."
[[{"fid":"23317","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Kings Positional Breakdown: C","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Kings Positional Breakdown: C"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Kings Positional Breakdown: C","title":"Kings Positional Breakdown: C","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]
While Cousins highlights the team’s frontcourt, sixth-year forward Jason Thompson projects to see playing time in the middle giving the Kings depth at center. The longest-tenured player on the Kings roster, No. 34 started four games at center last season, averaging 12.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest – topping his averages from last season.
Thompson’s versatile low-post presence has been appreciated by the Kings ever since he was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. To check out more about the New Jersey native and Kings.com’s power forward positional breakdown, Click Here.
Selected by Sacramento as an undergraduate out of Kentucky with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, DMC has accrued career averages of 17.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 291 career games spanning four seasons. Yet no season was more spectacular than the Mobile, Alabama native’s most recent campaign.
In his first year working under Coach Malone, the 6-foot-11 big man ranked in the top ten in the NBA in both points (22.7) and rebounds (11.7) per game, while also recording 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest.
Never satisfied, Boogie aided his offseason progression as he joined his teammates in Las Vegas for a weeklong mini-camp. He used that time to cultivate chemistry with his new teammates as well as kick-start his U.S. National Team bid, which ended in a sea of glory and gold this past week in Madrid, Spain. No. 15 hopes to bring his newfound international experience to the Kings this upcoming season.
“I want to come back and be able to teach the young guys on [the Kings] things I’ve learned overseas,” he said. “It’s going to help me become a better leader, help me become a better teammate and I’m going to take back as much as I can.”
Despite already having one of the finest scorers, glass-cleaners and passers in the low post, Cousins and the rest of Sacramento’s centers will have the added benefit of learning under 12-year NBA veteran, Corliss Williamson, who joined the Kings coaching staff prior to the 2013-14 season. Before a pair of coaching stops in the state of Arkansas, "Big Nasty" enjoyed two stints with the Kings as a power forward, averaging 10.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 22.9 minutes per game in 466 career games.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with [DeMarcus Cousins],” admitted Williamson last offseason. “I have a lot of knowledge [to share with him] from playing those positions and coaching them at the collegiate level.”
With Williamson’s coaching and the team’s talent in the middle, Sacramento should expect big things from their big men this season.