Even though DeMarcus Cousins profiles has an insanely likely flight risk when he reaches free agency in 2018, the Sacramento Kings aren’t yet ready to trade him.
From The Vertical’s Chris Mannix:
But with the league a week away from the unofficial start of trade season — on Dec. 15, players signed over the summer are eligible to be dealt—many wonder: Will he be there much longer? For the second straight season, Cousins is the focal point of trade rumors, with teams across the NBA wondering if Sacramento will pull the trigger on a trade for its mercurial star.
Officially, the Kings’ position is simple: not interested. Sacramento opened a sparkling, $550 million arena this season and ownership — specifically controlling owner Vivek Ranadive — is hell-bent on ending it with a trip to the playoffs. And despite a circus-like atmosphere in recent years, Cousins has never demanded a trade, either. As one former teammate told The Vertical, “It’s a mess there, but he sees it as his mess.”
“I’m a King,” Cousins told the Sacramento Bee last week. “I’m good.”
Look, you cannot blame the Kings for wanting to keep Cousins, in spite of all his on-court and, given the recent nightclub incident with Matt Barnes, off-court issues. He is a generational talent. He scores from anywhere on the floor. He can pass. He is a plus defender on a shitty team. And he’s not publicly demanding an out.
But the summer of 2018 is fast approaching, and it’s beyond unlikely that the Kings will have ended their decade-long playoff berth by then. Do they really expect Cousins to stick around for more of the same? They have had almost 10 years to build a winning outfit around him and have failed. If he reaches free agency as a member of the Kings, it feels like a certainty he will leave now.
Trading him now will sting, but the Kings will be able to command a huge return for his services—a combination of picks, prospects, salary-cap relief and cheap fliers. Some team somewhere will give them all that. Maybe the Boston Celtics. Perhaps the Denver Nuggets. Maybe the Portland Trail Blazers would be interested in building a deal around C.J. McCollum, playing to the Kings’ desire to chase wins rather than rebuild traditionally.
Whatever the Kings feelings, their day of reckoning is coming. Their playoff hopes for this season will soon be gone, at which point they’ll have to take a long, hard look in the mirror and figure out whether they are willing to risk losing Cousins for nothing in 2018 or open to settling for a small return on his stock after this year, when he will be a star on an expiring contract.
