Time for Cousins to Boogie?

With the end of the NBA season comes the usual offseason rumours and speculation about player movement and trades. This year is no different but could have the potential to have significant effects on the future of The Association.

DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins is the latest player to have rumours spreed about him being traded away from the Sacramento Kings. Reports suggest that Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro has no intention of trading Cousins at all and this is further backed up by executive and former player Vlade Divac stating that he "would only trade Cousins for [Michael] Jordan."

Cousins had a great season with the Kings despite sitting out 23 games due to sickness. He averaged 24pts to go along with 13reb and has truly come into his own as a cornerstone piece for the franchise. The behavioural and attitude problems of the past few years took a back seat this year as Cousins put his head down and earned an All-Star selection in NYC.

The trade that is being proposed sees Cousins going to the Lakers and Orlando Magic's Nikola Vucevic heading back towards Sacramento, but there really is nothing valuable for the Kings or Magic to take from the Lakers. They have a team of mis-fits right now and Jordan Hill or Nick Young isn't even in the same conversation as Cousins or even Vucevic for that matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVhH4Ez809g

The trade itself makes little to no sense for the Kings as they have had a revolving door policy when it comes to coaches for Cousins. He finally started to get along with Mike Malone and he was fired and later eventually replaced by George Karl. It's Karl that has purportedly added more fuel to the trade rumours, as it seems like he's trying to trade away Cousins and then Rudy Gay soon after. Cousins voiced his displeasure with the matter by sending a cryptic tweet depicting a snake in the grass, a motif that seems to be prominent with multiple players who played under Karl.

So clearly more than a few NBA players feel that Karl is a snake in the grass when it comes to wheeling and dealing players. The mystery surrounding his decision making would be enough to drive any player insane.

In regards to the proposed trade however, it would remarkable if the Lakers somehow pulled it off. While all three teams have top 6 draft picks in the NBA draft this year, it seems illogical for Orlando to give up such a prominent, young centre and go back to rebuilding their roster post-Dwight Howard. They are stuck in NBA limbo as it is but sending away Vucevic and taking back a package of Lakers and KIngs role players would not be ideal for the franchise or fan base.

Lakers meanwhile would benefit the most, a centre like Cousins only comes around so often.