DeMarcus Cousins is one of the league’s best players, and the Kings continue to confuse him. In all fairness, Sacramento’s moves make most folks in the basketball community stop, stare, and shake their heads, so it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see them settle for a less-than-stellar package in return for its marquee player. With that in mind, here are three deals that seem (somewhat) reasonable, at least in my opinion.
Boston—Amir Johnson, Terry Rozier, Brooklyn’s 2018 first round pick, and Boston’s 2018 first round pick for Cousins
The Celtics are still looking to turn its anthill of assets into an All-Star player capable of carrying a franchise to the title. Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins re-convening together in Boston would be quite hilarious, and this trade gives Sacramento a chance to rebuild through the draft. No one knows for sure what Sacramento’s record will be this year if they keep the crew together. However, there’s little reason to expect an improvement overall. In fact, this team will likely be among the worst in the Western Conference. It’s certainly possible that Sacramento’s selection falls after Philadelphia’s but still inside the top-10 picks. This is the best case scenario for Kings fans when the lottery rolls around next May.
Nevertheless, even if the Kings avoid disaster in 2016-17 and get to enjoy its own draft picks in 2017 and 2018, Sacramento owes Philly its first round pick in 2019. When the Kings are floundering at the trade deadline and Vlade Divac grows tired of reading Cousins’ cryptic tweets, he’ll have to consider whether it’s worth throwing in the towel to focus on the future. Willie Cauley-Stein isn’t going to shine in Cousins’ shadow, that’s for sure. And unfortunately for Sacramento, he might be the team’s most promising prospect. Amir Johnson would help keep the locker room afloat for the rest of this year, and Rozier probably has more upside than any guard on the Kings’ current roster. Then the 2017-18 team could safely bottom out and walk away with two top-3 picks in the 2018 draft plus Boston’s late first-rounder. Giving away the 2019 first round pick to Philly wouldn’t hurt nearly as much following that kind of talent inflow.
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to envision the Kings lucking out with a star in one of the next two drafts. Therefore, Sacramento might completely balk at the idea of moving Cousins, a rare star in the sense that most players would’ve demanded a trade numerous times by now.
Denver—Kenneth Faried, Gary Harris, and two first round picks (2017, 2019) for Cousins
Making any deal with the Kings will be tricky since they already have 14 players with guaranteed contracts heading into training camp and young NBA players carry low-cost deals. Faried and Cauley-Stein might not mix well offensively, but they’d work hard together on defense. Meanwhile, Harris is developing into a nice two-way shooting guard, and fellow youngster Ben McLemore has failed to impress. At the end of the day though, it was mostly the thought of Cousins re-uniting with coach Mike Malone that made me type these words. That and a twin tower Denver duo of highly-skilled big men in Cousins and Nikola Jokic. I’d also love to be a fly on the wall watching Jusuf Nurkic and Cousins go at each other in practice.
Cleveland—Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert for Cousins and Kosta Koufos
The Cavaliers don’t have much to offer in terms of draft picks, so the Kings would be hoping that Love and Cauley-Stein could be an amazing complementary duo. Shumpert would be a serviceable source of wing depth, and this group likely nets Sacramento a pick somewhere in the 5-10 range next summer. Love would be closer to home in northern California, and the Kings could look to rebuild sooner rather than later if they make a splash in the 2017 and/or 2018 NBA Draft. Meanwhile, the Cavs could definitely be considered the title favorites over Golden State with a Big Four of Cousins, Tristan Thompson, LeBron, and Kyrie Irving.
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