The Sacramento Kings is still struggling to keep opposing teams away from their superstar, DeMarcus Cousins.
Kings GM Vlade Divac has heaped praise upon his center, including this quote from an interview with CSN's James Ham (h/t CBS).
"It's a no-brainer," Divac said. "He's the most dominant player in the whole world. And being from Serbia, I have to root for Serbia, but I feel bad for them. He's going to kill them."
Most pundits would agree that Cousins is the most dominant center, since the most dominant player is still LeBron James with the NBA Finals fresh on their mind. But Divac is putting it all on his superstar.
Divac has done everything to kill DeMarcus Cousins trade rumors except the one thing that would really end it: build a competitive team.
Cousins wants to win, as every player would. There would be an order of priorities for every player but ultimately, a player who has not seen the playoffs will get frustrated (see Kevin Love). Some of them use the Team USA stints just to get the feel of winning which they experienced before and have missed with their pro teams (see Carmelo Anthony).
A trade demand cannot be ruled out and no matter how Divac denies it, it's a reality a GM has to prepare for. All the hypothetical offers in the trade rumors-one of them could actually happen.
The Houston Rockets are not often mentioned as a trade contender for Cousins. They got Mike D'Antoni as a coach and let Dwight Howard walk. But Space City Scoop believes that they should try.
For some reason, Coty Davis did not put the "anyone but Harden" tag on a Cousins trade. Trevor Ariza was identified as an untouchable. Thus, the offer was center Clint Capela, forward Corey Brewer, guard KJ McDaniels and forward Sam Dekker.
A combination of Harden and Cousins will be explosive but not entirely immune from the same issues that Harden-Howard encountered-probably even more. Howard complained that he didn't get enough touches and he's even a defense-oriented big man. Cousins has been the focal point of his team's offense since he turned pro. Will he take a backseat for the Beard?
Still, it's the Kings' decision. Will that package be attractive enough? On its own, probably, but in a bidding war, a package centered on Capela will fall short against a Kevin Love offer or a Brooklyn Nets unprotected draft pick which Boston can spike on any package.
It's a long shot for this Rockets' package to be chosen by the Sacramento Kings, but then again, it is the Kings.