Ben McLemore, Darren Collison Reportedly Available After DeMarcus Cousins Trade

The Sacramento Kings may not be done dealing after shocking the NBA by trading DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and Marc Stein of ESPN.  

According to Chris Mannix of The Vertical, "Sacramento is determined to restock the franchise with assets and will be targeting rookie-deal players and draft picks in the coming days, sources told The Vertical. Free agents-to-be Ben McLemore and Darren Collison are available, sources said, as is Arron Afflalo, a solid bench scorer with a manageable contract."

On Sunday night, the Kings reportedly agreed to acquire Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 top-three protected first-round pick and a 2017 second-rounder in exchange for Cousins and Omri Casspi. 

The return may have been light, but as Howard Beck of Bleacher Report noted, it was indicative of a shift in mentality for the Kings:

"

With one swift deal, the Kings jettisoned their greatest headache, restocked a barren cupboard and firmly declared their values: character matters now.

"This was a definite culture move," a person with insight into the trade said. "Enough was enough."

For all the gaudy stats—27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game—Cousins' behavior and volatility was a ballast.

It's fair to say the Kings did not receive equal value. Nor anything close to it. The truth is they were never going to get it—and every team executive in the league knew it.

"

As Mannix added, "It's a full-scale rebuild now in Sacramento."

Cousins was a three-time All-Star and the best center in the game, so he was always likely to garner a solid return, even if the Kings ultimately settled for far less than his worth. In players like Collison, McLemore and Afflalo, however, the Kings aren't exactly holding tantalizing trade chips.

Collison is probably the best of the bunch, but as Mannix noted, he's set to be a free agent. For a veteran team looking to bolster its point guard position, however, he would be a nice pickup, though likely one who won't garner any truly valuable assets in a trade.

Ditto for fellow free-agent-to-be McLemore, who has averaged just 9.2 points per game in his career and has never lived up to expectations after being the No. 7 overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Perhaps a change of scenery will be just what the doctor ordered for the 24-year-old, but it's hard to imagine any team giving up much in return for that gamble.

As for Afflalo, he indeed is a nice option off the bench, but he's also 31 years old and is due $12.5 million next season, per Spotrac. He also hasn't played well in 2016-17, posting his lowest scoring output since the 2008-09 season.

But if the Kings are basically ready to tank, taking pennies on the dollar for the above trio would be easier to justify. Given that the Chicago Bulls own the Kings' 2017 first-rounder unless the pick falls into the top 10, tanking makes sense for the Kings, especially given how loaded this draft appears to be.

But even in a tank mode aimed at keeping their own pick, the sins of the past could come back to haunt the Kings, since the Philadelphia 76ers hold swap rights with the team at this year's draft. In other words, they could win the lottery and immediately have to give the pick away in exchange for a worse one.

After all, few teams can write a tragedy quite like the Kings.