The Sacramento Kings may consider a DeMarcus Cousins trade this season and if it actually does happen, teams like the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and NY Knicks could be lading spots if George Karl pushes the move, although the team has continued to deny reports that Cousins is available for a trade.
Cousins came up in trade rumors earlier in the summer around the NBA draft and reports had Karl as the main reason behind the potential move. According to Howard Beck at Bleacher Report, the "majority" of people in the "organization" want to trade Cousins and that includes Karl. Beck writes that while Karl has denied that he is pushing the move, the coach would like to make a deal, as he thinks he can build a better team around a different franchise player.
The report says that owner Vivek Ranadivé is not in favor of a trade and that could be the only opinion that really matters in all of this. Cousins wrote "blah blah blah" on social media after the report came out and the Kings front office echoed that sentiment, with Vlade Divac and Ranadivé writing messages of support on Twitter. Either way, Cousins has come up in rumors this summer and if the Kings struggle this season, his name likely will come up again.
Around the NBA draft the Lakers and the Kings discussed a "framework" for a trade with Cousins, according to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports, but things did not go much farther than that. Cousins said a few weeks ago that the relationship with Karl was "getting better," according to Sean Cunningham on Twitter and moving forward that will be the duo to watch when it comes to Cousins and his potential trade.
Last season Cousins had a great season and averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game and now the test is to see if the Kings can win some more games. The Lakers were the main team mentioned earlier in trade talks and the Boston Celtics reportedly had interest in a deal for Cousins as well. Back in June Greg Dickerson of CSNNE.com "was told" that Danny Ainge and the Celtics would "continue to push" for a deal with Cousins. While that did not happen, it could be a future landing spot if a deal goes down.
The Kings have made some improvements to the roster after signing Rajon Rondo, Caron Butler and Marco Belinelli along with Kosta Koufos, but that may not be enough in the western conference. Rondo signed a one year deal and is looking to rebound after a tough stretch in Dallas after getting traded and he is hoping to raise his value moving forward.
After the initial trade reports things died down for a while, but earlier in July, Jason Jones reported in the Sacramento Bee that a trade with Cousins "remains on the table" for the Kings. Jones wrote that the relationship with Karl and Cousins would be key and that "nothing would surprise" the league if the Kings ended up making a move. While a deal is not imminent at this point, the Kings could look at a deal if they struggle again this season.
Check here for more on the Kings and a potential deal for Cousins.
