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Barnes critical of Kings trading Cousins, praises former teammate's resolve

Rob Carr / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Sacramento Kings told former franchise player DeMarcus Cousins one thing and then did another, ultimately trading him to the New Orleans Pelicans despite assurances that he was going to be sticking around for the long haul.

Veteran Matt Barnes - Cousins' former teammate in Sacramento who was waived to create space on the roster for the incoming pieces from New Orleans - is proud of the way Boogie dealt with such dire circumstances.

"That was bad. That was a bad way it went down," Barnes told ESPN's Chris Haynes. "But you know, my hat's off to DeMarcus the way he handled it. To give everything he gave to that franchise and for it to go down the way it went down at the end is a tough pill to swallow. But he stayed professional and said the right things. Even though he may have felt another way, he said the right stuff and that's all that matters."

Cousins called out Kings management shortly after joining the Pelicans, labeling what they did as a "coward move," especially after general manager Vlade Divac had told him to his face that they wouldn't ship him off. Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive even consulted with Boogie about other personnel moves ahead of the trade deadline while visiting his home.

"It was a tough situation for all of us," Barnes added. "They were so adamant about not trading him. I mean, I understand this is a business and you got to do what's best for the franchise, but when you go out of your way time and time again to say you're not going to do something and then do something and not consulting someone is a funny way of handling it, to say the least."

Barnes - now with the Golden State Warriors - and Cousins established quite the rapport during their short stint playing together, although that did include the two allegedly assaulting a man and woman at a New York club back in December. Nonetheless, Barnes feels Cousins is getting a bad rap around the Association for his hotheadedness, knowing the man behind the rough exterior.

"He's a good dude, man," he said of Cousins. "He's young and he's emotional. And I think that's why we connected because I was a similar way, even though I'm still kind of old and emotional now. All he wants to do is win, and sometimes that gets the best of us. I think he's judged unfairly, but the league and the world needs bad guys and that's what we've done for them. So we give them the bad guys."

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