It should come as a surprise no one if the Sacramento Kings look to trade DeMarcus Cousins rather than let this headache of a player makes their lives even more miserable.
Cousins’ confrontation with coach Keith Smart at the end of the first quarter that led to his second-half benching Friday night and his subsequent one-game suspension Saturday for “conduct detrimental to the team” means one thing …
Scavengers are going to come around, looking to see if the Kings are willing to trade the big man with a big attitude problem.
And if they do, they are going to try to buy low.
We have four proposed Cousins trades listed below that would make some sense for everyone involved.
We limited the field to the handful of teams that can truly be described as desperate for a center — no matter the baggage that comes along — and could put together offers that might be as close to equal value as the Kings might be able to get.
But first, a primer on why Cousins’ trade value is so low, from this outstanding analysis piece by James Ham of CowbellKingdom.com.
“With his value at presumably an all-time low, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kings wait this thing out. In the meantime, Cousins has clearly started to burn bridges with both teammates and the organization.It’s possible that Cousins understands this and is trying to force the Kings to make a move, but that would be a fools’ errand. The book is out on Cousins. The league knows what he brings to the floor, but they also know what damage he can do off it. His troubles are well documented and there won’t be a fresh slate. Whatever problems Cousins has, he would be wise to deal with them here in media-friendly Sacramento because it could be much worst. Teams aren’t lining-up offers of equal value for a player with this kind of baggage. Anyone who is calling is looking for a bargain-basement type of deal. I’m not sure what value a 6-foot-10 center shooting just 41.3 percent from the floor has on the market anyway. We aren’t talking about an All-Star player – we are talking about All-Star potential currently circling the drain in his own mediocrity. Following the game against the Clippers, Cousins spoke to the media and he told them he apologized to teammates, but they know better. You can only apologize so many times before your words become hollow and meaningless. Cousins needs to look in the mirror. His team is 8-17 and a large part of that record can be directly attributed to him. He has seven technical fouls and he has now missed 3½ games due to either league or team suspension, and we aren’t even through December yet. This is a train wreck of epic proportions and all we can do is keep our collective eyes peeled and wait for the next incident. And it will come, trust me.”
Here are five proposed trades involving Cousins that would fill a need for a team seeking a migraine/slash/center: