The Denver Nuggets is a team that should be taken seriously and head coach Mike Malone is one big reason.
The Nuggets were predicted to be one of the worst teams and they were also expected to blow up their core of players when they traded Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets without a significant return.
However, they are now at a respectable 6-7, just a half game behind 8th place (LA Clippers!) and even ahead of the floundering Houston Rockets-and more importantly, ahead of the Sacramento Kings.
Which is brings us to the Kings recent tumultuous episode. While most people think it's a no-brainer that the Kings would fire George Karl, the ownership of Sacramento is not really the most predictable in the league.
Some quarters might be fed up with Cousins-it may not be owner Vivek Ranadive, but others are. It may be a matter of time before they realize that even if they fire Karl, the problem with Cousins would persist until they find a coach that he would respect.
They actually did, but the problem is, he's in Denver now. CBS reported that Cousins was "extremely happy" when he learned about Mike Malone getting a coaching job again, and that" he's one of the better coaches in the league. He's a great man.
"I learned a lot from him, and I'm just happy he's getting an opportunity to do what he loves," he continued, according to Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones' Twitter.
This was already explored last June, and it might be revisited and revised in light of new developments. This was explored before draft night as reported by The Big Lead.
The Kings will most probably ask for Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler (even though he is injured) and the trade may be executed in January after the restrictions have been lifted. There is a possibility that the Kings may want to dump some contracts like Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore whom Karl doesn't seem to trust.
The Nuggets also have expiring contracts (JJ Hickson and Randy Foye) and the Kings could also ask for a center in return Jusuf Nurkic. Finally, since the Kings draft pick is compromised, they may ask for one of the Nuggets' assets like the Memphis Grizzlies' protected 2016 first rounder.
A team built around DeMarcus Cousins-finally, with a coach he can work with, and promising guard Emmanuel Mudiay could be a force in the future.