The Sacramento Kings may have finally made up their minds in moving DeMarcus Cousins.
Several executives around the league believe it could only be a matter of time before the Kings finally trade Cousins, whose involvement in trade speculations is as consistent as Sacramento's struggles in the past few seasons. According to Fox Sports' Chris Broussard, the Kings could finally deal Cousins, with the team looking to keep Boogie close to the trade deadline before assessing their ultimate decision.
"The last time I talked to people about (DeMarcus Cousins), which was last week, what I was being told is that the Kings want to keep him into the trade deadline or close to the trade deadline and see where they are as a team," Fox Sports' Chris Broussard told the Basketball Insiders Podcast.
"If they are competing and in the playoff hunt, what I'm told is they would like to keep him."
Despite bringing in Dave Joerger this past summer, the Kings have failed miserably to surround Cousins with a better supporting cast. And while the Kings have remained insistent about keeping Cousins in Sac-town, enticing offers from teams like the Blazers and Celtics, who have enough tradable assets to work on a blockbuster deal, could force the Kings to consider such dealing Cousins.
Chris Mannix of The Vertical reported that the Kings' are "not interested" in any sort of trades involving Cousins, who is a averaging a career-best of 28.8 points per game. However, Mannix also insisted that it would be "foolish" for Sacramento to not explore such move, considering the position they are in: another potential missed opportunity to compete in the playoffs.
Nevertheless, any possibility of the Kings trading Cousins would still likely be up to the team, rather than intriguing packages rivals may pitch. Cousins has long been linked to the rumor mill and plenty of teams may have already proposed their best bargain, but the Kings have been successful in ignoring opportunities to replace Cousins.
It is unclear whether the Kings would trade Cousins before the February 2017 trade deadline. But Cousins is one of the most elite big men playing in the league and would certainly be a game-changer for contending teams. He is the missing puzzle piece to teams like the Celtics and Raptors, who is one proven star away from seriously competing for an NBA championship. Come weeks before the trade deadline, expect teams to give Vlade Divac and Vivek Ranadive phone calls for the services of Cousins.
Video courtesy: YouTube/FreeDawkins
