Kings' DeMarcus Cousins: 'I love Vlade, he's a trustworthy guy'

National pundits continue to scratch their heads over the Kings' curious offseason, but their star player is thrilled with their decision-maker.

News10's Sean Cunningham caught up with DeMarcus Cousins after Day 2 of Team USA minicamp on Wednesday to discuss his feelings toward Vlade Divac and his team's offseason.

"Our relationship has grown quickly," he said of Divac. "I love Vlade. He's a trustworthy guy. He's confident. He's brave, he's not afraid of the moment and he believes in himself. I think he's making some incredible moves in a short amount of time. The biggest thing is that he's not afraid, he's not afraid of making a mistake. I like that."

The Kings took the world by surprise when they shuffled up their front office by placing Divac in control of basketball operations. He is an old face from the glorious early-2000's for Kings fans, but to Cousins, he was a newcomer.

Fortunately, the gregarious Divac has quickly endeared himself to his franchise player. This offseason, in particular, has left a strong impression on Cousins.

"I don't really understand the (criticism) pertaining to our roster," Cousins said. "I'm pretty confident with our roster and I'm happy with the additions we have. I'm excited for this upcoming season."

The negativity and criticism surrounding the Kings this summer is mostly tied to the frosty relationship between Cousins and head coach George Karl. The two sides are slowly warming to each other, but at the very least, it's good to see friendliness between Cousins and Divac.

Aside from playing peacemaker, Divac has been busy tinkering with his roster. He brought in Kosta Koufos to shore up frontcourt depth, added Marco Belinelli and Seth Curry to boost shooting, and took a flyer on a former All-Star guard in Rajon Rondo. It's an odd mix of players, but there's no denying that Divac improved their roster for next season.

Granted, it came at the cost of trading a horde of prospects and picks to the Philadelphia 76ers to clear cap room, and a seemingly senseless dumping of Ray McCallum to the San Antonio Spurs.

But by making upgrades, Divac won the loyalty of Cousins, who is the Kings' most important player. And that, above all, should score Divac's offseason as a success.