The Sacramento Kings may look at a DeMarcus Cousins trade in the future if teams like the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics or NY Knicks are interested, as reports have George Karl and others still pushing for a trade with Cousins from inside the organization.
The Kings and Cousins were mentioned in numerous trade rumors this summer and while a deal did not end up happening, there is a chance things could change in the future. Cousins was mentioned in trade reports around the NBA draft with the Lakers and earlier last season the Celtics were reportedly interested in exploring a deal. According to Yahoo Sports, the Lakers and Kings exchanged a "framework" about a potential trade for Cousins, but the deal did not end up getting close to happening.
USA Today later reported that the Kings gave Cousins and his agent permission to look for a trade after the Lakers deal did not work out. Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé has remained consistent in saying that the team does not want to trade Cousins, but the USA Today report said that Ranadivé gave Cousins and his camp permission to look for a deal at that earlier time. After those original trade talks died out, it looked like things with Cousins would remain settled, but reports continued to come out that head coach George Karl was pushing for a deal.
Cousins spoke with the Sacramento Bee over the summer and said that his relationship with Karl was "improving," but that was before some other reports that Karl and others in the organization are still pushing for a trade. According to Howard Beck at Bleacher Report, while Ranadivé and some in the front office want to stick with Cousins, "the vast majority" of people in the organization want to make a trade. Beck writes that George Karl is among those people, "though he denies it" after all the talk this summer that he was pushing for a deal.
Cousins and some others with the Kings like Ranadivé and Vlade Divac took to social media to poke fun at the report, but Beck writes that if things go a certain way, the team could consider a deal. The Kings know they will not be title contenders, but the team is expecting improvement after signing Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli, Kosta Koufos and drafting Willie Cauley-Stein. The Kings could end up looking at a deal later this season if things do not go well once again.
Cousins is coming into the season after having a great year while averaging 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists per game. Cousins has shown that he can be one of the best players in the NBA on talent, but Karl may not see him as a player he can build a winning team around. If Karl is considering a deal or trying to push one, that is likely the logic he is looking at. Earlier in the offseason it was reported that Karl was eyeing Kenneth Faried with the Nuggets, a player he used to coach when he was in Denver.