The Sacramento Kings have been mentioned in trade rumors regarding DeMarcus Cousins all offseason and heading into the draft teams like the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics have shown interest and this comes as head coach George Karl may want to try and trade with the Denver Nuggets to get some of his old players in Ty Lawson, and Kenneth Faried, while JaVale McGee is a free agent target with Rajon Rondo.
The Kings have said in the media that they are not looking to trade Cousins, but often times where there is smoke there's fire and right now Sacramento is fuming. According to various media reports from Pro Basketball Talk, ESPN and Fox Sports, Cousins is a target for the Los Angeles Lakers in a three team deal with the Orlando Magic, while the Boston Celtics are also making a push to get Cousins. UPDATE: Emmanuel Mudiay has been picked by the Nuggets in the NBA Draft.
Pro Basketball Talk reports that George Karl is the main person pushing the deal for Cousins and that the owner and front office are not looking to deal him. According to Chris Broussard of ESPN, Karl is looking to trade with the Nuggets in the hopes of getting some of his old players, including Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson, but "ownership" will not go through with the deal.
Marc Spears at Yahoo reports that Karl and the Kings are showing interest in McGee, who is a free agent after being bought out last season by the Sixers. If the team moves Cousins, Karl could go after McGee along with Faried and Lawson, as those players all played for Karl in Denver.
Karl reportedly is trying to get the owner and the rest of the front office to go along with a Cousins deal, as he is trying to build a winning team quickly. Cousins took to Twitter to put out a message about the situation, posting some emojis that translated to "snake in the grass", which likely was a veiled message to Karl. In previous years players like Andre Iguodala and JR Smith have written the same types of messages in regard to Karl and that could give some credence to what is going on in Sacramento.
Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock discussed the idea of a trade with Cousins for the Kings and Whitlock said that while Cousins is a great player skills wise, he likely is not one that a team should build around to try and win. Whitlock speculated that Karl wants to try and create a winning culture and that Cousins may not be the best fit for that. Whitlock said getting the number two pick in the draft could be value enough for the Kings if they take Jahlil Okafor.
The Kings are also reportedly looking to add Rajon Rondo and they also could go after JaVale McGee on the market if the Cousins deal doesn't work. Another report from ESPN has the team shopping Rudy Gay over Cousins and that they will make a move with Gay to help free up cap space to sign Rajon Rondo. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe wrote that the Kings are a "dark horse" option for Rondo, as they may offer him a short, lucrative deal over a long term deal.