It’s important to flip the question of the day around: Would Boston give up the Nets pick for Boogie? Don’t assume they would.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) November 11, 2015

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Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

After Sacramento was hammered at home by San Antonio Monday night, the Kings’ star, DeMarcus Cousins, stormed into the locker room and cursed out head coach George Karl with a torrent of obscenities, a person close to the situation told The Big Lead.

After Cousins unleashed the F-bombs on Karl, all the head coach –who publicly feuded with the Kings best player last summer – could do was walk away, a source tells The Big Lead. Afterward, Cousins felt some remorse for his actions, asking a couple of teammates if he came down too hard on the coach. They calmly told him, “you can’t scream and curse like that at your coach in front of everyone.”

The Big Lead

Here we go again. The Sacramento Kings are a grease fire. Here’s a quick, off-the-top-of-my-head list of their dysfunction:

1: Their majority owner, Vivek Ranadive, is a meddling owner who is at odds with the minority owners in the group. But there’s nothing the minority owners can do but sit and complain.

2: Their front office is completely in over its head, allegedly leading to this moment (also from The Big Lead link)

after the players spoke, Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz talked to the players and Divac asked the team, “We don’t know what to do with George [Karl], do you think we should fire him?”

3: George Karl is a prick who is hyper focused on padding his win totals and climbing up the all time wins list at all costs.

4: DeMarcus Cousins is a mega-talented hot-head whose emotions simply cannot be reigned in.

And that brings us to Boston, and our pursuit of a superstar player. After last night, it’s starting to become clear what the difference is between having a lot of talent and what having a star go-to guy. I love Isaiah Thomas, but he’s not in Paul George’s class. The Celtics need to create situations in which Isaiah Thomas can thrive (more on this in a minute), while George can thrive on his own. And it’s that level of superstar that is missing from this team.

So we, collectively, start scanning the landscape for dysfunctional situations in which a top-tier talent may want out. The level of hot-headedness doesn’t matter to us because we’ve got “Brad” (we don’t even need to use his whole name. He’s achieved single name status in Boston like “Prince” or “Madonna” by now, hasn’t he?) and Brad makes it all better. He’s the player-whisperer… the savant who makes outcasts good again and turns assholes into functional human teammates.

So with no other real star player available, we obsess over Boogie. We wait like buzzards in the skey for the venom in Sacramento to course through the organization, waiting for the franchise to finally drop to its knees, give into the inevitable, and pick the carcass clean for our own benefit.

Except…

If the Kings do fire Karl, it just solidifies Cousins as the franchise guy and the team continues in another direction.

And, there’s a serious question of just how much the Celtics are willing to give up for Cousins. Don’t get too caught up on the Celtics being unable to trade picks on draft night. Like I’ve said before, that’s the one day of the year you almost can’t trade those because owners and GM’s are too in love with making their current picks. The Nets pick is quickly becoming the most valuable asset the Celtics have, and if things break the right way, the Celtics could have four first round picks in THIS YEAR’S DRAFT to offer a team that’s looking to blow it up.

But do they want to? And would they for Cousins? Cedric Maxwell is not alone when he says…

“I wouldn’t give you a bag of donuts for him,” said Maxwell. “I think that sometimes what you have are guys who are cancerous. I think he is a player who has tremendous skill set, but if you don’t have a lead dog in front of him and he’s your best player, I think it’s only going to be cancerous for your team.

“I really am not a big fan because of the way he’s acted on and off the court.”

I admit, I’ve gone back and forth on Cousins for this very reason. And I think the outburst on Karl is a telling sign of his maturity and/or ability to control his emotions. Going all in on your coach like that, in front of everyone, is the biggest, reddest of red flags. And then asking his teammates afterwards about it is a sign that he’s not thinking his actions through.

Now, he did apologize, but how many apologies does it take for a team to be satisfied he won’t blow up during a losing streak? How much does it take to feel comfortable enough to push all your chips into the middle of the table for a player with his history?

Maybe the Celtics could buy low on Cousins and keep the Nets pick… and all this is said with the gigantic

IF

Cousins is even available. We’re making giant assumptions as it is that the Kings are even remotely close to dealing him. Let’s not also make the assumption that the Celtics will give up all of their assets to make it happen.

Related Links: MassLive: If Cousins hits the market, don’t assume C’s would give up Nets pick

Page 2: The nail in the Thomas-as-starter coffin

The Celtics regressed. They looked confused and disheveled. An above-average defensive team forced starting point guard Isaiah Thomas to make some difficult playmaking decisions, and as expected, he opted for contested shots. Thomas has labored from the field this season. He finished Wednesday’s game 4 of 13, and 1 of 4 from the 3-point line, and for the season he is shooting 37.5 percent from the field, 25.6 percent from long range. What’s more concerning is Thomas has attempted 53 more shots than the next-busiest Celtic, Evan Turner.

It’s pretty simple: When you’re the team’s offensive engine, its primary scorer, you need to score or the team will falter. Thomas freelancing offensively, challenging three defenders, and trying to make acrobatic layups is a flawed strategy.

Globe: Celtics have no shot looking like this

I don’t want to belabor points here, but I feel like this discussion needs to be put to bed once and for all.

Isaiah Thomas is not a starting point guard. He’s struggled so much as the Celtics primary ball-hander that Evan Turner has basically been assigned as his play-making sidekick. His preseason success as a distributor is a long-faded memory (has ANYTHING from this preseason translated to the regular season?), and the formula for Thomas’ success is very clear: spread the floor with shooters, run a pick and roll, and let him read the defense and shoot/drive/dish to the screener accordingly. Occasionally those shooters will get the ball on their own and hit shots, or catch a pass from Thomas when defenders help too much, but that’s the formula… give Thomas as much space as you can, then let him operate in that space.

Unless the Celtics want to trot out a starting lineup of Thomas, Turner, Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, and RJ Hunter, then it’s best to let that group come off the bench and face other teams’ bench talent.

[this is where you can add the standard, but true, narrative about Thomas needing to maximize his minutes and play 30 rather than 38 minutes a game, while also being a 5’9″ defensively liability better hidden against lesser guards off opposing teams’ benches]

It’s funny, even when Thomas starts, he doesn’t start to heat up until the second quarter anyway. It’s almost like he’s programmed to take over at particular points of the game.

I hate to keep harping on this, but it’s still one of the most-asked questions of me and other Celtics writers/bloggers. Put this to bed. Thomas is one hell of a 6th man… he’s just not a starter.

The rest of the links

Globe: Larry Bird still loves you and your teams  |  Celtics rookies Rozier & Hunter thrown into the fire  |  When Celtics needed their best, they were at their worst  |  CSNNE:  Smart very rust in return to lineup  |  Stevens: Paul George made Paul George plays  |  Turnovers prove costly for Celtics  |  WEEI: Paul George, Pacers outshine Celtics  |  MassLive: Smart: “Getting back to me” will take some time  |  RJ Hunter has stepped away from social media  |  Herald: Smart shows rust in return  |  It’s talent, by George!