DeMarcus Cousins and D'Angelo Russell (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The latest NBA trade rumor has Team USA becoming a recruiting ground to form another superteam, just like before. This time, it's Kyrie Irving recruiting DeMarcus Cousins.
The source of the report is known for making audacious claims that has not been backed up by other reputable sources, so take it with a grain of salt. Sportsrageous claimed that Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving has "great chemistry" with DeMarcus Cousins while they are in Rio de Janeiro.
The premise is that Irving has "picked up" superteam recruitment skills from his teammate LeBron James. Irving has relished winning a championship and while James seems content (for now) at bringing a title to Cleveland, Irving wants to win it all again.
The pieces mentioned in the article are the same: Kevin Love and draft picks. We have made a previous report analyzing why the trade has yet to take place. The verdict is that the Kings are not keen on Love as the trade piece in return.
While Love would make sense because he is a power forward and can space the floor, the Kings would rather develop rookie Skal Labissiere for the position. They are also in the process of trading Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore and Kosta Koufos. It is possible that one of those trades could address their power forward needs.
The Kings' priority is to acquire a top-notch point guard and as previously mentioned, they have had eyes for the Lakers' D'Angelo Russell. That has gone on even before Russell was drafted in 2015 and the rumors about the Kings pursuit continued during this year's draft week, as reported by ESPN's Marc Stein.
Sacramento has been heavily engaged in trade talks all week and sources say one player they've tried to land is the Lakers' D'Angelo Russell
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 23, 2016
It was presumed that the Kings were asking for Russell and the no.2 draft pick, which turned out to be Brandon Ingram.
On the assumption that the rumor holds true and Irving does convince Cousins to air a trade demand, the Kings could ask for the Lakers to be involved. Cousins will go to Cleveland, Kevin Love goes back to his college city, LA (and the Lakers get a star) and the Kings could get D'Angelo Russell and possibly either Julius Randle or Larry Nance. There should be some draft considerations changing hands (most likely from Cleveland).
Kevin Love has played with Lakers new center Timofey Mozgov for over a season and his three point shooting fits well with Luke Walton's system, and Love would not mind being in LA.
This scenario is speculative based on the latest alleged rumor and the previous stand of the Kings' reluctance to trade Cousins for Love directly.
