The rumors about the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to acquire DeMarcus Cousins in exchange for Kevin Love spread like wildfire.
The rumors were chronicled in this report. Many of the sources were from Twitter and social media.
The trade was supposed to send Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert from the Cavs to the Kings with DeMarcus Cousins and Ben McLemore coming to Cleveland in exchange. The terms were not specific on whether any draft picks are included in the transaction.
Eventually, the rumor mill was flooded with the Boston Celtics pursuit of superstars in Las Vegas Summer League. That involved two big names-Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook. The news about DeMarcus Cousins possibly joining LeBron James eventually died down and some of the pundits dismissed it as a false assumption.
Now the latest update on that storyline has Steve Kyler, an authority from Basketball Insiders confirming that the Cleveland Cavaliers did make an inquiry.
Much of the talk about the pursuit of DeMarcus Cousins originated from the Cleveland Cavaliers side, specifically from their fan blogs, as in this follow-up article from King James Gospel, the Sports Illustrated/Fansided Cleveland Cavaliers' site. Writer Quenton Albertie claimed that Cousins' impenfing free agency in 2018 is the most compelling reason for the Sacramento Kings to make a trade. He cited that Cousins is frustrated and "his loyalty is to winning" citing his college choice (Kentucky with Coach John Calipari, the sport's top recruiter) where he played with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. Speaking of Kentucky, SB Nation Wildcats site A Sea of Blue noted that some of Cousins' recent statements emitted an air of frustration with his current team specifically with the Kings draft choices as they quoted Kings' radio reporter Sean Cunningham.
Right now, he is with Team USA practicing for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where they are expected to win the gold medal. If Boogie stays with the Sacramento Kings, that's most likely the only winning he'll experience, which could add to his frustration.
As the Kings continue to hold out on Cousins, his trade value will diminish if the team continues to lose and Boogie openly airs his displeasure with the team (which he is known to do). If the Cavs were really offering Kevin Love, that should be a reasonable return because if Boogie demands a trade, the Cavs might take Love off the table and lowball the offer.