DeMarcus Cousins (Photo : Getty Images)
The NBA trade rumors lit up once again with the DeMarcus Cousins to Cleveland Cavaliers headline.
The banter started again with Sports Illustrated's Cavs blog King James Gospel who proposed that Cousins is a good fit for the Cavs based on his Olympic performance, specifically his dominance in defense and rebounding-definite needs for the Cavs to contend with the Golden State Warriors.
"The Cavs don't have a great threat to block shots, other than the 38-year-old Chris Andersen. With 6-foot-9 center Tristan Thompson starting, the Cavs have a lack of rim protection. Adding Cousins to the mix changes that, as teams will be less likely to drive towards the rim."
No one disputes that. Cousins is a good fit for most NBA teams with his talent, and even teams who have centers will gladly give them up for Boogie.
While the other reports continue to center on a swap between Cousins and Kevin Love, Aaron Ferguson of KJG had another variation. This time, the proposed deal involved the Boston Celtics who would take Kevin Love and send a package to the Kings.
It was confirmed that the Cavs did inquire for Cousins, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Not likely for either - was told Cavs inquired about Cousins, but it dd not go anywhere. https://t.co/hx9SDXZdbo
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 18, 2016
Thus, the rumors are not entirely baseless. But as Kyler said, the talks "did not go anywhere" and it's likely that the Kings' were the ones who ended the conversation. Will this trade really happen? Let's try to give a final verdict on this the speculation.
If the Cavs want Cousins, then the question centers on the Sacramento Kings. Perhaps one of the reasons why Ferguson forged a three-way trade is because the Kings are not high on Kevin Love, at least not as most of those who propose the Love-Cousins swap.
From a positional standpoint, Love makes sense for the Kings since they have a glut of centers. The Kings inexplicably traded a chance to draft Marquess Chriss, one of the better power forwards in the draft (which the Phoenix Suns promptly scooped up) for two later picks, and they used it both on centers. If they wanted a power forward, they could have drafted Chriss. Granted, the rookie is far from Kevin Love and Love's three-point shooting is badly needed by the space-starved Kings. But it doesn't seem like the Kings are aware of this, or they may be looking at something else.
If the Kings need to address a position, it's at point guard. There were options in the draft at no.8 (or even at no.12-where they picked Greek center Papagiannis), but they passed on that as well. The Kings is probably the franchise that's hardest to get a read on.
No one was prepared for their draft night decisions, not even the experts and scouts who covered the team for months. What we do know is that they were reportedly trying to trade for D'Angelo Russell (via Marc Stein of ESPN) but that obviously led nowhere as well.
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
The Kings also placed Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore and Kosta Koufos on the trading block. No one knows that what they want for them, (it is presumed, again, that one of these trades will address the point guard need). They passed on a rumored Monta Ellis - Rudy Gay swap and now they can't find takers for Gay.
But to address the question on DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Love, the short answer is "no." If the Kings wanted to, they would have done it. They are experimenting on Boogie at the four and also rookie Skal Labissiere. For some reason, the Kings don't appear to be so concerned that they have too many centers.
They continue to say that they are not trading Boogie. That could change and no one believes that is final, but if they do, it might not be for Kevin Love. The only clear target they openly coveted was D'Angelo Russell, but they're not trading Cousins for him.
