Can the Los Angeles Lakers Build a Blockbuster DeMarcus Cousins Trade?
You've got to admire the Los Angeles Lakers' ambition, but you've also got to acknowledge the myriad obstacles between them and their reported target, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com:
"The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as one of the most determined trade suitors for Sacramento Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN that the Lakers have been actively pursuing trade scenarios in recent weeks in attempt to construct a deal that would convince the Kings to part with Cousins.
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Oh, and the talks are real, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:
"Sacramento continues to explore several deals. Talks with the Lakers for DMC are real, sources say, but ownership determined to keep him.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) June 23, 2015"
All right, sure. I guess those are better than fake talks.
But here's where it gets interesting. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, it's head coach George Karl who is pushing to trade Cousins. Wojnarowski writes that the relationship between Karl and Cousins may be "irreparable," and Karl has lobbied Kings players to join him in his stance that Cousins needs to be moved.
Of course the Lakers want Cousins. His contract (for four years and $65.6 million, according to Spotrac) is probably the best value in the league. He's a franchise centerpiece, a physically overwhelming interior presence who, given the right scheme, could absolutely anchor an elite offense.
He's easily one of the league's best big men, and he's become such despite mucking around in the Kings' failure bog for his entire career.
"It's been a circus, man. It's been a complete circus," Cousins told Michael Lee of the Washington Post after a rough 2014-15 season.
Sorry, not a failure bog then. A failure circus.
Cousins is a player every team should be pursuing, if only because he might have another leap or two to make if he could only find the right environment.
The Lakers seem to operate under the assumption that they're the league's very best environment because, you know, banners and rings and such. How much past success—under a different owner—really matters to the future is up for debate, but maybe Cousins would be intrigued by Los Angeles' legacy.
There's one big problem, though: The Kings don't want to trade Cousins.
In a related story, they're not completely insane.
Vlade Divac oversees personnel decisions in Sacramento these days as a team vice president, and he didn't mince words when asked whether Cousins might be on the move, per Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee. "That is not happening," Divac said.
Head up the food chain in Sacramento, and the story doesn't change.
According to Sam Amick of USA Today, owner Vivek Ranadive feels the same way about his franchise player:
""We have zero interest in moving Cousins, so I don't know where that's coming from," Ranadive said when asked about an ESPN.com report in which a Kings-Los Angeles Lakers-Orlando Magic trade scenario was discussed. "But if you like, you should talk to (Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations) Vlade (Divac), because I know Vlade feels exactly the same way. And I'm deferring to Vlade on everything. We have no interest in moving him. From my perspective, it's really simple: We feel that he's a one-of-a-kind player, and we have a group of players right now and we're going to build on it."
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Pull away from the team altogether and you've got outside analysis from Tom Ziller of SB Nation that sounds pretty convincing as well:
"The Kings have been "actively pursuing" wins for nine damn years. We know quite acutely what it means to want that which you can't have.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) June 23, 2015"
"ACTIVE PURSUIT: A Screenplay KUPCHAK: "Gimme Boogie." DIVAC: "Go to hell." -fin-
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) June 23, 2015"
Unless the Lakers have invested considerably in mind control, it doesn't sound like they'll persuade the Kings to deal Boogie—not just because Cousins' value is so high, but also because the Lakers lack the assets to make a reasonable offer.
We have to assume any potential package for Cousins would include L.A.'s No. 2 overall pick in Thursday's draft, along with last year's lottery selection, Julius Randle. Might as well throw Jordan Clarkson in there, too, plus anything else that's not bolted down at Staples Center.
If the Kings wanted the Lakers to throw in three or four championship banners just so there'd be something to hang in the rafters at Golden 1 Center when it opens in 2016, L.A. would have to do it.
You get the idea. It's just hard to imagine how this plays out realistically.
Stein reported the Magic have been part of "exploratory dialogue" on a potential three-way trade. But what would the Magic get out of this? Would they give up Nikola Vucevic and his bargain of a deal? Why?
Speculation piles on top of speculation here because it's so difficult to imagine a sensible exchange.
If we suspend disbelief and hop into a vacuum, maybe the second overall pick and a pair of promising second-year players would be enough to start discussions for a player of Cousins' quality. But you have to consider the Kings' specific situation in all of this.
They've been horrible for what seems like forever, irrelevant since the days when Divac was actually on the court over a decade ago. They're heading to a new venue, and they'll want to get their next era off to a decent start.
Giving away the best player on the roster and taking a massive short-term step backward in the process just doesn't square with what the team needs right now.
Maybe Jahlil Okafor or whomever the Kings got via that second pick could turn into a legitimate star.
But remember that it took Anthony Davis three years to get the New Orleans Pelicans to squeak into the playoffs in the West, and his organization sacrificed all of its long-term flexibility to put pieces around him to make it happen.
Davis is a singular, generational talent—one we should be comfortable saying is worlds better than whatever that No. 2 pick might someday become. If it took him that long to make the Pelicans a winner, shouldn't we expect an even longer road for someone who's not on Davis' level?
If you want to stretch a little, maybe you toss in Cousins' attitude as a motivator for a move.
I'll admit I've long harbored doubts he could ever be a centerpiece on a good team because of his bad body language, here-today-gone-tomorrow defensive effort and childish reactions to the slightest on-court adversities.
Maybe the Kings are willing to risk a step back in exchange for a truly fresh start built around a player with less baggage. Having the Lakers' pick and their own No. 6 selection would be a good beginning.
But if Cousins' demeanor was going to precipitate a move, it would have happened by now. They've held on to him through his worst bouts of immaturity, so trading him when he's right on the precipice of growing up makes little sense.
Big picture: You've got to watch out for stuff like this as the draft draws near. Parsing words in reports like Stein's is critical.
The Lakers are "trade suitors" who are "actively pursuing" Cousins.
They should be trying for a home run. They should be a little desperate.
They're one of the league's most storied franchises, and they're looking a little short on hope. Being long on dreams is a good thing, especially when it means taking advantage of another franchise without direction.
But we can't make the leap from those dreams to reality because, well, reality gets in the way.
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