Forging a path the Timberwolves hope to follow someday, the Sacramento Kings are crossing over from a team that just wants to compete to a team that's learning, however painfully, to win.
It's an uneven process, to be sure, one that already this season has included a four-game winning streak and a double-overtime victory at Phoenix that has been balanced by defeats in Memphis and Dallas during which they led by 18 points or more in the first quarter of each game.
"It's a work in progress," Kings point guard Darren Collison said. "We are making strides. We are improving, which is always a good thing. We've got some pieces that we can build around for a long time."
Those pieces include a grown-up — or at least growing up — DeMarcus Cousins at center, a gifted scorer and recently re-signed Rudy Gay at small forward and presumably in Collison the point guard leader for whom a once rudderless franchise long has searched.
Their 9-5 start was the team's best in a decade.
Petulant and problematic not that long ago, Cousins has grown into what Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders called a top-five candidate for the NBA's Most Valuable Player and a double-double machine who has become remarkably dependable in both production and temperament.
"I think he had this ability all along, before I got here," said Collison, who signed last summer as a free agent after he played for four different teams in his first five NBA seasons. "But I definitely see him maturing as a leader."
Sacramento coach Mike Malone calls Cousins a changed player and person since late last season, when he was served a one-game suspension after he was ejected from a game against Houston.
