Despite the storied history of the Celtics franchise and the one owned by the Kings that is just as strong in a losing direction, the two teams find themselves in very similar situations.
While Boston indeed made the playoffs this season and the Kings were a far cry from doing so in the West, the Celtics finished the year six games under .500, and really aren’t any closer to contending for a title than Sacramento is.
The difference between the two teams is that the Kings have a legitimate All-Star player in DeMarcus Cousins, and while his attitude and demeanor have been somewhat horrific at times, his averages of 24.1 points 12.7 rebounds make him one of the games best big men from a talent perspective.
That explains the report that Boston would be interested in trading for Cousins. But at least at this point, the Kings have no desire to see their mercurial center play anywhere else.
From Bill Herenda of CSN Bay Area:
This was in response to a report earlier that the Celtics would dip into their vault of future first round draft picks and try to make a run at trading for Cousins this summer.
But just like Sacramento, Boston is not a place where All-Star caliber free agent talent willingly chooses to sign. The Celtics know this, and that’s why they’re doing the smart thing by trying to trade for an All-Star with multiple years left on his deal, someone they might be able to convince to re-up there by building a winning team around him.
The Kings hope to do exactly that, and even if they were potentially interested in dealing Cousins, they can drive the price up by putting it out there that they have zero interest in doing so.
