DeMarcus Cousins has spent all offseason mentioned in trade rumors and now he has come up again for the Sacramento Kings, as a report has many in the organization, including head coach George Karl, wanting to trade Cousins and if that happens, teams like the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns or Knicks could be future landing spots, although a deal looks very unlikely.
Cousins came up in trade rumors earlier this offseason and there were reports that the Lakers were very interested in making a deal before the draft. The trade did not come close to happening, but Yahoo Sports reported that the teams exchanged a framework about a potential deal. According to Bleacher Report, Howard Beck reported that while Sacramento "wants to hold onto him," others within the organization want to make a deal and are "in favor" of trading Cousins.
Beck said on video that George Karl is among that group and this comes after reports that Karl said him and Cousins could work out their issues. Karl was asked during the summer league about the previous rumors and he was not concerned about the relationship between him and Cousins and he also added that he was not pushing the trade at the time. Clearly there has been conflicting information or changing information all summer, as the Kings did say they allowed Cousins' agent to look for a deal around the draft.
One thing is clear though from reports, owner Vivek Ranadivé wants to keep Cousins at least for now and that is the main person who will say yes or no to a trade anyway. There is always a chance a team knocks off the socks for the Kings and that could get the team to say yes. Earlier in the summer there were poets that Karl wanted to get Kenneth Faired from the Nuggets, as he previously played for Karl when he was head coach. The Kings could look at that deal, while the Lakers always remain a possibility.
Earlier around the draft and after the draft reports came out that if a deal went down, the Kings would want either Julius Randle or D'Angelo Russell in a deal for Cousins. The Lakers are not likely going to do that at this point and if talks happened again, the sides may start negotiating over different players. Cousins has proven to be capable of putting up All-Star numbers, but Karl may not see him as a winning player to build around. Last season Cousins had his best year, averaging 12.7 rebounds and 24 points per game.
Vlade Divac and ownership posted on social media along with Cousins about the reports and they basically mocked them once again. As the season goes on the rumors should continue, especially if the team does not play well. The Kings added Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli, Caron Butler and Kosta Koufos and they should at least be better than last season. Cousins wrote "blah blah blah" on Twitter and Divac agreed with that message. Either way, Karl and Cousins will have to find some common ground if things stay the way they are now.
Check here for more on the Cousins trade reports and more on the Kings.
