NBA Trade Rumors: Nets Shouldn't Waste Time Chasing DeMarcus Cousins

Brook Lopez is still recovering from foot surgery, which has forced the New Jersey Nets to seek out alternative options at the center position. The search has led them to Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

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The Nets are getting Kris Humphries back sooner than expected, but that’s not stopping them from pursuing a risky personality for a frontcourt upgrade.

According to a league source, the Nets are looking to trade for Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who earlier this week had a falling-out with Sacramento coach Paul Westphal.

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Cousins has a lot of potential, but the Kings haven't shown any interest in actually moving him despite the rampant speculation. As a matter of fact, the team fired Westphal today, although it's unknown if the move was in direct relation to his problems with Cousins.

Even if the matters are unrelated, the Nets shouldn't waste any time attempting to pry him away from the Kings. It's unlikely he could be had for anything less than king's ransom, and the process would take much longer than New Jersey would be willing to wait for a move.

The Nets have gotten off to a terrible start at 1-6 and, if they are still hoping to contend for a playoff spot, will need to turn things around in short order to make that happen. Trade negotiations for a talented player like Cousins don't get resolved overnight.

Then there's the hefty price tag that would be involved. The Nets don't exactly have a bunch of depth they could just unload to Sacramento, which means they would have to deal valuable picks.

In reality, the Nets aren't going to make any noise this season so they are best off just standing pat until both Humphries and Lopez are healthy instead of attempting to make any marquee moves.

Perhaps most importantly, New Jersey wants to have as much cap space as possible heading into the offseason so it can splurge before moving to its new arena in Brooklyn. A trade for Cousins would mean a lot of money take away nearly $4 million of that space.

While that salary is not outrageous by any means, the Nets need to focus on acquiring pure scorers to improve a lagging offense. And those type of guys don't come cheap, so every dollar will count next summer.

You can't blame the Nets for at least exploring the Cousin possibility, but they are much better off just riding out this rough patch and hoping things start falling their way moving forward.