DeMarcus Cousins trade rumors intensify before NBA Draft

That could be right. If you’re trading a center, you might like to have one in reserve. But it’s more likely that the Kings are finally giving Cousins what he’s wanted all along: the ability to play power forward.

Cauley-Stein is very different. He can conceivably guard all five positions ... perhaps on the same possession! He has enormous length, elite agility and a track record as a defensive stalwart. He’s precisely the type of defender (flexible, quick and long) that is in vogue right now in the NBA.

The rumors are flying, and it really sounds like DeMarcus Cousins is leaving Sacramento. Apparently that’s not what he wants though.

Here’s the full conversation:

He also happens to be on a bargain of a contract. He’s due $15.8 million next season, and $17-18 million in the following two years. In 2016-17, Cousins’ deal will be worth something like 19 percent of the salary cap. The deal will likely rank among the top-five biggest non-rookie scale bargains in the league that season (along with Stephen Curry’s tiny deal and Kyrie Irving’s max). Unsaid in the above is that Cousins is under contract through the 2017-18 season. He has no immediate leverage to bail in free agency, which would otherwise change the calculus dramatically.

Why? Good question! There has been some suggestion at a post-season meeting of the minds that Cousins declared he was “done” with the Kings. Color me skeptical of this rumor floating around Sacramento, if only because Cousins has never cared to really hide his distaste with certain personalities or situations. Why start now?

Karl declined to confirm what had been written, but he didn’t express his support for keeping Cousins either.

“I think it’s just a lot of crazy crazy fibs and lies,” Karl said. “It’s just a situation where we won 29 games last year and for us as a basketball organization we want to get better. Cous is our best player, we know that. We want him committed and dedicated to being in Sacramento and playing and leading us to the first playoffs in Sacramento in six, seven, eight nine years.”

The Knicks and Lakers are also interested in Cousins, but for various reasons are unlikely to land him. Writes Berger:

And while Karl’s bosses (Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and vice president Vlade Divac) have thus far claimed that they are opposed to dealing Cousins, the two seem to have no such qualms about the rest of the roster.

If George Karl had his way, the Kings would trade DeMarcus Cousins for several of Karl’s former players in Denver. The Sacramento Kings coach is “enamored” with the idea of trading Cousins to the Nuggets for Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler, according to CBS Sports’ Ken Berger.

All three played key roles on Karl’s 57-win Nuggets team in 2013 and all could be seeking a change of scenery. Denver fell off since Karl was fired following the season, so all three players have seen their value tank. Lawson has been shopped since February, while teams have been sniffing around on Faried and Chandler for multiple years.

That would be an emoji representation of a snake in the grass. That knocks. Hard. And especially so because it’s not the first or second time an NBA star has made this accusation toward Karl.

Melo responded on Twitter.

Wojnarowski reports that the relationship between Cousins and Karl has become “irreparable”. Karl has reportedly been pushing the idea of trading Cousins on new vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac, and has even attempted to turn Kings teammates in favor of the idea.

It sounds like Cousins could be dealt if and when Ranadive authorizes the move. Karl and members of the front office have already told opposing teams of their desire to trade the No. 5 pick in 2010.

The Los Angeles Lakers, who own the No. 2 pick in the draft and have always been a destination for stars, are among the teams most aggressive in pursuing a trade for DeMarcus Cousins, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

The Kings, to this point, have shown no interest in dealing their star center. Vlade Divac, the Kings’ vice president of basketball operations, told the Sacramento Bee that a deal involving Cousins “is not happening.”