If true, it makes me respect Stevens less. He's not up to the task of trying to mold a generational talent.
Imagine if Bill Belichek had that mindset.
That's absurd. At this point you're letting your Cousins' bias get in the way.
Denver could have easily made the same offer for Cousins as New Orleans did. They didn't give up too much less to get Mason Plumlee. They also have apparently the only coach that Cousins ever seemed to play for. That they didn't step up, nor were even rumored to be trying in the last week, should say a good deal about the league wide opinion of Cousins ability to be a good teammate.
If Denver had gotten him for a package of Jamal Murray and a 1st, I'd be a little more upset, because then the front office and coaching staff that knew him best outside of Sacramento would have said "yes, he's worth the trouble." But that they stayed away same as most other teams says that the concerns were very, very real.
Comparing it to the Patriots is completely different too. Basketball contracts are much more guaranteed than football, so jettisoning someone who doesn't work out is more difficult on the salary cap. Furthermore, rosters are smaller, top players see a much larger percentage of action, and the ability to find someone viable in mid-year free agency is less. Belichek, and every football team, can take a risk on a player, because the cost of him not working out is so much less. The Patriots could take a risk on sending a 5th round for Albert Haynesworth, because if he didn't work out, so what. It's just apples and oranges. My gut says an NBA version of Belichek wouldn't have been any more interested than Stevens.
Denver has Jokic, who they're building around. They're committing to youth. Malone still admires and stays in touch with DMC.
With regards to Jokic, they just paid a decent price to get Plumlee and his Bird rights. If they're willing to go forward with that pairing, they certainly should have been willing to go forward with Jokic and Cousins. If Cousins can't guard 4s well enough for 15-20 minutes a game, I question how good of a fit he'd have been on the court with Horford, who at this point in his career has problems keeping up with quicker PFs.
As for Malone praising Cousins in public -- a lot of people are willing to say nice generalities to reporters. Malone might truly wish Cousins the best, even. But, again, they traded a 1st rounder in this draft (that will probably wind up only about 5 spots worse than what Sac wound up getting) and a decent prospect for someone who plays the same position as DMC, but less well, and is 5 months older. If Cousins is that special a player, then they should have had no problem trading a little bit more for him. It is not remotely unreasonable to conclude that the Nuggets, who employ both his former coach and GM, decided they weren't interested. And if they weren't, I'm just fine with the Celtics being similarly uninterested.