DeMarcus Cousins trade rumors will not die, they are the “time traveler in old photos” stories of the NBA. There have been reports as recently as the last few weeks that the moodiness of Cousins has him potentially on the block.
Well, not if you ask Vlade Divac, the guy who would have to approve such a trade. Which is what long-time guy on the Kings beat in Sacramento Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 reports was done after the Dave Joerger hiring press conference on Tuesday.
Kings GM Vlade Divac was asked about trading DeMarcus Cousins today after the presser. 'He's not going to be traded - this year for sure'
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) May 10, 2016
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This is the smart thing to do. Not that it will stop the rumors. Too many fans from Boston to Los Angeles have dreams of Cousins and will not give them up, no matter how many facts get thrown in their face. Making those Cousins trade rumors supporters the climate change deniers of the NBA.
Even if the Kings were open to trading him as was rumored, Divac would never admit it and give up leverage. The bottom line is that the package that it would take to get the Kings to even consider trading Cousins is going to be insanely high, more than teams would surrender. This is no firesale.
Again, giving Joerger a chance with Cousins and a modified roster is the smart move. Cousins is talented, and Joerger has had success working with both Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph (and Randolph had a reputation as not easy to deal with). The Kings would not get nearly the same value back for Cousins, the best traditional center in the game right now. Try to make this work, put better talent around him and give this one more chance (and if it starts to work, don’t cut the legs out from under Joerger ala Mike Malone).
If it doesn’t work, then revisit things next year.