Those of you who thought the DeMarcus Cousins-to-the-Boston Celtics trade rumors would dissipate with the latter’s acquisition of Al Horford over the summer thought wrong.
Per Adam Kaufman of CBS Sports Radio:
Basically, there are some other teams around #NBA that believe there's traction on Boogie deal…but not a #Celtics or #Kings source. FWIW. https://t.co/c2LCmI1y8U
— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) December 11, 2016
Kaufman notes that he’s not hearing this from a Sacramento Kings or Celtics source, which is important. Just last week, word came from The Vertical’s Chris Mannix that Sacramento isn’t yet ready to field offers for Boogie.
But the Celtics could use another star, and they have the assets necessary to acquire said star. So, here we are.
The fit between Boston and Cousins is now weird, though. Both Cousins and Horford shoot threes and pass the ball, so they can theoretically play together. But neither of them should be defending power forwards full-time, and one of them would have to.
If the Celtics can acquire Cousins without dipping into their core of wings—namely Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder—it’s easier to justify rolling the dice. Trading for a Paul George or Jimmy Butler would be awesome, but Boston doesn’t positively need to upgrade its presence on the perimeter.
Odds are, though, if and when the Kings flip Cousin, it won’t solely be for a package built around draft picks. The Celtics’ two first-rounders from the Brooklyn Nets could change that, but they’ll more likely than not have to include tangible assets other than cap dreck—rendering any potential deal from a risk-reward standpoint beyond tenuous.
