Official: Unsubstantiated Trade Suggestions, Speculation, And Rumors

If DC stands for DeMarcus Cousins than absolutely, unequivocally, undoubtedly hell no.

I wouldn't offer Sacramento anything more than Thomas Robinson and a 2nd rounder. Throw in Mozgov since we wouldn't need him anymore.

Cousins's value is nothing. He wants out, the Kings suck, everyone knows that marriage is destined to end. Why would we give up 3 premiere young assets for that? If Cousins signed an extension for Lord only knows what reason then sure we could discuss that, but until then I'm not giving them anything more than a bag of chips and if they get more than that from some GM that GM needs to get fired.

 

I'd take that bet.

And you missed the point.

 

Hm. Seems hyperbolic.

1. I didn't say he's worth nothing, but his value in trades is nothing.
2. I never said nobody wanted him. Read again and try harder.

Maybe you didn't read carefully enough or maybe you can't understand what I'm writing. I'll try this again:

I'm not giving up anything for DeMarcus Cousins because his contract has one more year on it after this season, he is continuously displaying behavioral problems, and the organization he's part of is one of the worst (maybe the worst) organizations in all of sports. That is not to say he is not worth trading for. That is not to say he is not an incredibly talented player. That is not to say teams shouldn't want him on their team. It simply means I'm not going to trade valuable assets for a one year rental of a malcontent, immature child. I'm certainly not going to give up assets to a division rival. I'm certainly not going to bend over backwards to sell those assets to an organization that has no bargaining power whatsoever.

If the Kings want to trade DeMarcus Cousins, they're going to get pennies on the dollar for him unless there's an organization out there stupid enough to give up real assets a la the Knicks in the Carmelo deal and look where they are now. Do you want to be the Knicks? Given your general appreciation for what Phil has done, then maybe you do. I'm glad you're not making decisions for the franchise.

The same Love wasn't a malcontent and wasn't on the worst run franchise in history and wasn't going to a rebuilding team. The Cavs had no need for picks and in all honestly they overspent. Wiggins is better than Love. They should have kept him. The Cavs also mistakenly drafted Anthony Bennett #1 overall so they proved they have no idea what they're doing with their picks.

We are not the Cavs. We don't have LeBron. Giving up two #1 picks (the distinction being #1 and not 1st round) for DeMarcus Cousins would be idiotic and any GM who made that call should be fired. The Kings have no leverage whatsoever to demand that sort of return. Giving up two 1st rounders would be highly suspect as well assuming they're good picks. There's only one team I can think of that should make that move and I'm not sure it's the right move for them anyway. Boston has proven they don't know how to draft so all their picks are useless. They just spent a ton of money on Horford, but the two should work together decently on paper. It's the only team that should even consider making that move and guess what? That means they shouldn't. Why bother? There's no other buyers on the market and if there are buyers willing to pay that much, then so be it. They overspent and now they'll be in the same position as the Kings.

Wrong. You need to really think things through more in terms of value. It's not what you think it's worth, it's what you think it's worth to other people.

 

Maybe you need to look up the difference between being disgruntled and being a malcontent. Love was not fighting media members in the locker room. He was not being sued for assault. He was not nearly the distraction that DeMarcus Cousins is. Comparing the two is frankly silly. There's a difference between wanting out and forcing your way out like Cousins is. Not that it matters because I already said the Cavs gave up too much. So you want to give up the same amount in a more dire situation? If you think Love and Cousins have the same or even similar behavioral issues then I'm not sure this conversation is worth my time.

You need to research what the term "value" means. His value to me and to the Lakers (and to just about every team around the league) is as low as it could possibly be. There's literally nothing you can say to contradict that. There's zero logic behind trading any substantive assets to the Kings for him. The Kings have the least amount of bargaining power I can think of for a player of Cousins's talent level. He wants to leave, his contract is expiring soon enough that you're almost guaranteed not a return on investment, he's exhibited sufficient behavioral issues that if he were less talented he wouldn't be in the NBA. What else could want? This is one of the worst conditions for selling an asset I could imagine. There are clearly very few teams, if any, that are willing to give up actual assets for Cousins. The only team that makes real sense is Boston and again why should they sacrifice anything? They're in decent position and their assets can probably buy them something of a better shot at the deadline.

Let me put it this way: Rudy Gay, Aaron Afflalo, and DeMarcus Cousins have made it clear they're unhappy in Sacramento and want out. Why do YOU think they haven't been traded yet?

 

Really? This is the angle you're going with? You have to know that's ridiculous right? You have to understand that Cousins wanting to leave Sacramento is clear. I mean really. If you don't think DeMarcus Cousins wants to leave then I'm not sure what I can write here that's going to matter (not that writing anything here matters really).

I'm not so sure.

This is why I'm not so sure.

Also this.

We'll see.

I'd love great examples.

Oh boy. First of all, the twins weren't as disruptive as Cousins. Second of all the twins did NOT both net 1st round picks. That's empirically false. Third of all I hope you have better examples.

Markieff Morris was traded to Washington for Kris Humphries, Dejuan Blair, and a protected 1st round pick. That pick ended up being 13th in this last draft. It was traded to Sacramento on draft night and turned into Georgio Papagiannis. What a haul.

Marcus Morris on the other hand was traded to Detroit along with Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger for a 2nd round pick in 2020.

And by the way the Markieff trade was widely criticized even though the pick ended up being at the very bottom end of the lottery and the Marcus trade was a failed attempt for the Suns to get LaMarcus Aldridge. All things equal, I'm sure the Washington Wizards wouldn't make that move again seeing as they had to sit out the draft and their team didn't markedly improve. I'm sure there's lots of teams eager to repeat that mistake, but on a grander scale because comparing the Morris twins to Boogie in terms of talent just continues to put your ability to accurately value players in question.

 

Because their situations aren't the same. The Morris twins are less talented and Washington gave up too much. Markieff Morris had just signed a 4/32 million dollar deal so you're giving up a pick for a player that's an investment. Giving up a 1st (or I guess in your estimation multiple 1sts or at least multiple assets) is a stupid move. Comparable examples are New York and Cleveland for Carmelo and Love respectively. Both of those teams lost the trade although in Cleveland's case it didn't matter because they had LeBron and Kyrie Irving.

Poor example. Next one please.

I never said that and would never say that.

It was a calculated gamble and they gave up the #13 pick which turned into an overseas stash. Not exactly the same as two #1 picks.

So what if it's a mistake? What point are you even making anymore? The point I made was that anyone who gave up more than sub-par assets was making a mistake. Are you arguing that point? Or are you just arguing? Do you even know?

No you clearly don't understand.

1. Your example was poor. It doesn't match the current situation at all.
2. If another team is willing to give up a lottery pick for a player that's going to soon be expiring, that's on them. We've gone around this circle before and whereas I was at one point in favor of it, I'm not anymore. We've proven we're not a destination for FAs and any FA we get at this stage if they're not under contract is probably likely to walk away and find success elsewhere.
3. My offer is a reasonable offer from the Lakers because I don't want Cousins in a trade. It doesn't make sense for us and it doesn't make sense for them. Offering more than Mozgov and a 2nd Rounder is stupid for the Lakers. Is it an offer Sacramento is likely to take? No. Of course not. So what? Some idiot somewhere might offer two 1st rounders and Sacramento makes out like bandits and the Lakers then make a Cousins a big pitch in 18 months when he's a FA.

 

And you found an example that doesn't fit this current scenario. Try again. Morris is not a locker room problem AND a media problem AND wants out AND a contract set to expire. Keep looking for examples other than Love and Carmelo which were both bad trades. I'm waiting.

Once again: different situations. Not a good example. Morris was not expiring making it much easier to give up a long-term investment for a long-term investment. The pick was even Top 9 protected when it was traded so in reality it was pretty unlikely to net a great player. Which it didn't.

So you'd gladly give away actual assets for Cousins? Again: I'm glad you're not in charge of the team. Giving up young players and/or picks for a malcontent on what is essentially an expiring contract? Giving young players to a division rival? Won't that look great in 2 years when Cousins signs with Boston or Phoenix and Julius Randle is hitting his prime in Sacramento. Great.

Oh you mean the two 1st rounders that are in either 2017, 2018, or 2019, and the one in 2021? Hooray. Not to mention again another poor example: Dragic has been a good teammate and was well liked in Phoenix and Miami. Miami had to give him a max deal to keep him which kept them from being serious contenders in FA this summer and more or less forced Dwayne Wade out of Miami. They want to trade Dragic, but can't get rid of his contract. You want to be like them?

Cousins coming to LA is unlikely to happen unless the young players on this team improve drastically over the next 18 months and we wow him in FA. Trading for him now gives him roughly the same situation he had in Sacramento: no teammates, minor cap space, and very few ways to improve. Except now we have even less young players who are potential All-Stars. So what's his motivation to stay? Larry Nance Jr?

If Cousins was on a long-term deal I'd throw the farm at him, but he's not. Giving up anything of real value from the Lakers would be a massive mistake. You're not doing anything to prove that point wrong.