Sacramento Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac acknowledged the strained relationship between coach George Karl and center DeMarcus Cousins but said Thursday that he’s working to mend fences.
Divac expects Karl and Cousins to remain with the Kings next season. Cousins expressed his displeasure after Karl was hired earlier this year.
“Well, I’ll be honest with you, it’s not pretty right now, but I’m focused on bringing a better team this year and I think I did a pretty good job in this free agency and now I’m going to be focused on the two of them,” Divac said during The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Radio. “I think they should think about how they can do the best for this team, and I hope everything goes well.”
Divac wants to build the team around Cousins.
“I really believe in DeMarcus, I think he’s our franchise guy,” Divac said. “I came here after 10 years, I had a chance to win the championship here with the Sacramento Kings, it didn’t happen, I am coming back to do that with DeMarcus.”
Divac shot down reports that Karl was working to get the talented 24-year-old traded.
“We have some differences, we are working on it and every day it’s better and better,” Divac said in reference to Karl. “I really think I can create a healthy environment here and everybody should be on the same page by October.”