NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and More
We're less than a month into the 2016-17 NBA season, and already, people are stirring up trade rumors about the Golden State Super Villains Warriors.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson is the subject. Despite being on pace for 66 wins, basketball Twitter was recently set ablaze when he was mentioned as a possible trade candidate by former player Brian Scalabrine.
On top of that, this past week also gave us fresh ramblings on Willie Cauley-Stein and renewed gossip on DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings.
Following a slow start to the season under new head coach Dave Joerger, the two big men could be available to the right suitor.
Klay Thompson to the Celtics?
Monday provided a striking example of how intensely the NBA rumor mill can churn with little to nothing propelling it.
Things got started by Scalabrine, who now works as an analyst for CSNNE and The Vertical, in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio:
Shortly after the rumor was roundly refuted by multiple reports, including one from CSN's Monte Poole, Scalabrine took to Twitter to attempt to explain where the information came from:
He eventually tweeted that the rumor came from Justin Bautista of the Morning Ledger. The Ringer's Rodger Sherman dug a bit deeper:
And MassLive.com's Jay King traced the rumor back to a message board.
So, while the Celtics would certainly benefit from having a lights-out shooter like Thompson, the potential of a deal materializing appears to have about as much potential as the rumor did.
Will DeMarcus Cousins Finally Be Dealt?
Thompson has been in the rumor mill a time or two, but he has a long way to go to catch Cousins, who is the leader of what appears to be another losing team.
It's early, but the 4-7 Kings are showing a lot of the same weaknesses they have every season during the Cousins era, and that's brought some familiar speculation back to the news.
"There's reason to think that by the time February's trade deadline comes around, Cousins will no longer be with the Kingsโand a move could come in the first half of December," Sean Deveney of Sporting Newsย wrote. "That's the speculation among front office executives around the league, at least."
Cousins is among the most talented big men in the NBA, but his talent has yet to translate to success. Prior to this season, the Kings were 164-328 (.333) since drafting the two-time All-Star in 2010.
It's fair to place a lot of blame for those losses on the organization and its coaches, but it also might be time to wonder if the real problem is with the star. And if the front office decides that's the case, it should be able to pull in quite a haul for Cousins.
Is Willie Cauley-Stein Available?
Cousins isn't the only Sacramento big man who may be on the trading block, as Cauley-Stein's name has been floated around as well.
"Keep an eye on Kings big manย Willie Cauley-Stein," ESPN's Marc Stein wrote.ย "Word is Sacramento is open to moving the second-year big man, who wants more of a role than he has under new Kings coach Dave Joerger."
If Cauley-Stein is indeed disgruntled, it's not hard to see why. He averaged 21.4 minutes and was fourth among rookies in win shares last season, per Basketball-Reference.com.
In 2016-17, his minutes are down to 13.8. According to Basketball-Reference, he's 29th among second-year players in win shares.
Despite the smaller role and subsequent rumor, Jason Jones of theย Sacramento Beeย reported that a deal is far from imminent:
If Sacramento is actually entertaining the possibility of moving Cousins, it's hard to imagine Cauley-Stein would go, too.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
