It’s no secret that the Sacramento Kings have a serious “Boogie” dilemma on their hands. Despite their best efforts to contend this season bringing in Rajon Rondo, Willy Cauley-Stein, and Marco Belinelli the Kings sit firmly in 12th in the Western Conference. Sacramento even made a head scratching trade with the 76ers in the offseason that could have some negative ramifications in the near future. The Kings do have one trade chip that could drastically change their future, DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins’ frustrations in Sacramento have been well documented having 5 different head coaches during his 6-year Kings tenure. With this in mind it may be in the Kings best interest to trade the 6’11” big man in hopes of rebuilding for the future. For all intensive purposes let’s take a look at 3 trades that make the most sense in moving Cousins. Despite whatever general manager Vlade Divac states at some point he is going to entertain trade offers. The Celtics, Heat, and Bulls have all been rumored as interested parties as I will try to construct a deal using each team.
A Celtics/Cousins union makes the most sense in my opinion. One of the biggest questions surrounding Cousins is the question of is he coachable? What better way to find out than to surround him with one of the best coaches in the league, Brad Stevens. Stevens led the overachieving Celtics to the NBA’s 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference following the Isaiah Thomas trade during last year’s trade deadline. The Celtics also have the best trade package to offer Sacramento including two unprotected Brooklyn picks that figure to be high lottery selections. The Kings could really have their pick of the litter in terms of possible trade compensation in any DeMarcus Cousins deal. Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger, Marcus Smart, the list goes on and on. For any deal to work out cap wise David Lee or Amir Johnson would have to be included for cap purposes. Sacramento would frankly be crazy not to listen to any offer including the 2016 unprotected Brooklyn pick which would give them a shot at nabbing LSU’s Ben Simmons. With Cousins on board former Rockets and long time Celtics player Kevin McHale may even considering joining to Celtics coaching staff as a mentor to Boogie. Could Cousins catapult the Celtics to contenders in the Eastern Conference? We have seen how Isaiah Thomas’ numbers have sky rocked since leaving Sacramento eventually landing in Beantown; could Cousins even further improve upon his staggering stat line with the C’s? This deal just simply makes to much sense not to happen eventually, Celtics fans everywhere are praying Danny Ainge can pull off another miracle similar to his heist of Kevin Garnett in 2007.
The Miami Heat have been another team interested in trading for Boogie. If there is one man who has proven to do whatever it takes to win it’s Pat Riley. With the Miami Heat sitting in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference, Riley is looking for that one piece to that will supplant the Cavaliers as the best team in the Eastern Conference. The only question is whether or not Miami has the necessary pieces to make a trade work? Hassan Whiteside will almost certainly have to be the centerpiece of any trade but does his acquisition enough to satisfy the Kings? Whiteside is a former Kings 2nd round draftee back in 2010. Whiteside never succeeded with the Kings averaging a bleak 1.3 points per game during two seasons with the Kings. Whiteside is also an impending free agent following this season and could leave Sacramento empty handed, a risk the Kings simply cannot make. Having said all of that a three team trade would almost have to be struck in this instance. If a trade were to be struck it would look something like this. Having traded away their future draft picks in the Goran Dragic deal a deal landing Cousins in Miami is remote but never say never when it comes to Pat Riley.
The Chicago Bulls have been tinkering among the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference for quite sometime. With the recent tension in the Bulls locker room surrounding head coach Fred Hoiberg it may not be the best time for a roster shakeup, nevertheless a Cousins trade could land Chicago in the NBA Finals. Montenegrin stretch four Nikola Mirotic would have to be considered the headliner in any deal moving Cousins. Mirotic, 24, is averaging just over 10.5 points per game in only his second NBA season. A move to Sacramento could benefit Mirotic as he is averaging less than 20 minutes a game, a number that would surely increase with a move to the Kings. Outside of Mirotic, Chicago does not have very many intriguing assets. Oddly enough Chicago does own Sacramento’s 2016, 2017 top ten protected first round pick. The pick is likely to be conveyed as a 2nd round pick in 2018 as the Kings figure to be in the rebuilding mode regardless of a Cousins trade making this asset seemingly minuscule. A combo of Taj Gibson, Tony Snell, and Doug McDermott still likely isn’t enough with Mirotic. Then again maybe the Kings would prefer established talent rather than the package of youngsters the Celtics can offer. A DeMarcus Cousins, Pau Gasol front court could be awfully entertaining to say the least.
