Lakers - Kings- Trade Very Unlikely; Both Teams Focused On Draft

I wouldn't blame Cousins for not getting past the team with 30 wins. Sacramento doesn't have a sound structure organizationally. They've been a mess for quite awhile. They go through GM's, coaches, personnel, and their owner is a joke. It's a freaking mess. So, much of a mess that when they had a good coach (Mike Malone) who got Cousins to buy in to what he as preaching, they started having some success. Then, what did they do? They fired him when they struggled in December when Cousins was in the hospital.

JC, Randle, Okafor, is a very promising core. No question. I've love for these guys to grow, develop, flourish and start going through the process of ding it the 'Laker Way.' It's fantastic. They work hard, they want to get better, and I love that. However, about 3-4 months ago, I posted something about not getting 'married' to any type of rebuild. I know the Lakers. If they see a chance to get a 'star' talent, they'll always go that path while trading away some of their assets that they've developed over time.

If it's not DeMarcus, it will be somebody else. We don't build 'farm systems' here in Los Angeles. We have no time to wait. I didn't say that. I'm just reading through the tea leaves of what Mitch has said just recently; he wants to field a team that contends for the PO's next year.

Regarding this deal, I don't believe it will happen. Nevertheless there will be transactions in the future that could involve players we drafted and groomed. Like I said, though, I wouldn't be 'married' to any one style of rebuilding. If we are, we might come away disappointed.

 

Cousins and Hezonja would be two guys with potential attitude problems.

 

that's definitely true. let's swap in mudiay, whom some mocks have slipping to 6.

mudiay
Clarkson
max FA after Kobe retires
randle
Cousins

that's a potential dynasty

 

Let's say hypothetically Lakers work a 3 team trade with the magic and Sacramento. And somehow we only lose our number 2 pick and Jordan Hill (contract match) and we end up with demarcus cousins + 6 pick ummmmm...... Hell yeah I'd do that in a heart beat!

Let's say mudiay, hezonja, or even porzingis is still available at 6 you'd take that! That's a lot of talent to have!

 

I honestly don't have a problem with that mentality. It has worked well for us.

But i think the last few years have shown us the dangers of bringing in a guy who isn't a good fit (Howard). And Like him or not, Howard has accomplished a lot more than Cousins.

There are other issues with the Kings, but when we are talking about trading our pick and either Randle or Clarkson, I can't overlook his team's record. Add in the attitude issues, etc and I just don't think Cousins is worth it.

You tell me we are going to land Jimmy Butler, Westbrook, etc and I am all ears. You tell me we are bringing in a guy from a losing team with attitude issues and i am getting bummed out over here.

The pick has already energized the franchise and I think he knows that. There is no need to make this deal when we can keep the pick and bring in a guy of Cousins caliber in free agency.

 

I like Mudiay but I am not sure he slips that far. That deal would make me feel better but I don't know.

 

This may not mean $***, but iirc, Mychal Thompson mentioned that klay spoke really highly of boogie from their time on the national team. Team USA vs nba is apples to oranges, I understand, but maybe something to that.

 

@Punk-101 Cousins may be okay. But Gasol and Aldridge are too. And they won't cost us a draft pick if they want to be here.

 

That'd be nice, but i think both of those are very doubtful. If we get a handshake agreement that one of those 2 are coming, does that mean we draft Russell at #2? Randle at sf? Okafor at pf w/ Gasol?

Let's go over some combos:
Randle/Aldridge/Okafor
Russell/Randle/Aldridge
Russell/Randle/Gasol

vs the trade (assuming we get mudiay at 6)
Mudiay/Randle/Cousins

edit: consider their ages though 24 vs 30 and 29. Boogie isn't even in his prime yet, IMO. Dont think of the trade as giving up a draft pick, think of it ask drafting mudiay at 2 (which wasn't out of the question a few months ago) and getting a 24 year old cousins in FA for $14, 15, 16 mil.

I'm thrilled with any of those combos, tbh. Which do you like best?

 

i toyed with this idea when we talked after the lottery. the question i have now is who would fall if sac got the no. 2 pick and would the swap allow lakers to get up to 5 if they involved 27 pick and 34 and orlando in the deal. if towns is 1, sacto drafts who? did sacto work out mudiay or do they like the euro so much they take him leaving phily to choose between mudiay and russell, leaving NY to draft okafor and LA to get the choice between who sacto does not pick -- (which is why I think lakers are trying to involve ORL to make sure they draft who sacto wants and we get who we want plus boogie out of the deal). I think we could be hoping for it to work where we draft mudiay to pair with boogie. Interesting...

 

@Punk-101 Randle/Aldridge/Okafor works for me. Memphis gave the Warriors a little bit of trouble with their frontline, but they just didn't have the shooters to complement their bigs. When Kobe retires, we'll have capspace and a complementary frontcourt to attract top perimeter talent.

I'm not so sure Mudiay will fall to #6. Maybe he will but I'm a bit skeptical. We may be able to pick up a Wing player like Henzonja or Johnson.

 

I like that one too.
The thing with mudiay at 6 is that you dont have to trade for cousins until you see the guy you want at 6. The details of the trade could be contingent upon who we want to take at 6. if we no likey, the deals off. Or am i wrong and you can't trade the player, only the pick before its drafted?

 

I would t move Clarkson or Randle in any deal with Cousins. I would do the deal that's been reported that mathematically checks out according to Pincus: trading our number 2 and getting Cousins and their number 6 pick. That's the only deal I accept. If the renege, they get low balled from here on out.

You grasped my earlier point, though. If it's Westbrook, Butler, Durant, I am glad you wouldn't hesitate. That's all I am saying; if Butler isn't happy with Hoiberg or Russell can't stand Donovan, we make those deals happen.

 

if were getting cousins why the HELL would we draft myles turner instead of russell/winslow/mudiay/hezonja or the best player available

i hope the bolded part is BS

i'd lose a lot of confidence in the FO if they do this ****

i still want okafor

clarkson
kobe
?
randle
okafor

a core of clarkson/okafor/randle should be enticing enough for a MAX FA

the only way i'd entertain the kings offer is if we get cousins & #6 anything else and its a no-no

like ive said before no point in gutting the team just for cousins because we end up with more holes

if we trade clarkson & randle along with the pick we essentially lose 2/3 of our team

?
kobe
?
?
cousins

who the hell would wanna sign here ^^^^ thats a crap team

we can plug in a rookie @ one of those positions but youre also left with 2 big holes to fill instead of having a core of clarkson/randle/okafor cheap talent that might be enticing for a max fa

im going crazy i need it to be thurs already so we can know what the hell is going on

 

I believe they can make the trade after the pick has already been done.

 

Beat me to it. Just like I said; he's getting moved. This is going to turn into more of a circus in Sacramento if Cousins is on that team during the regular season. Oh, and people who don't want Rondo, Sac and Rondo have a mutual interest. Mentioned in the same article.

 

The Los Angeles Lakers have had significant interest with Cousins, but their No. 2 overall pick isn't as appealing to the Kings as finding a deal that includes established, veteran players. Ranadive doesn't want to rebuild with a move into a new arena on the horizon, and Karl is chasing Don Nelson's all-time NBA career victories record. Karl's interest isn't in cultivating long-term assets, but rather compiling as many victories as possible in the near future.

Most teams trying to trade into the lottery believe the Kings are determined to package the sixth overall pick to bring back veteran talent.
Gay signed a three-year, $40 million extension that starts with the 2015-16 season, a contract that has become even more palatable to teams with the sharp rise coming in the NBA salary cap. Gay has played well in his two-plus seasons with the Kings and remains a target of interest with multiple teams, front office executives said.

Sacramento is motivated to find a way to create more salary-cap space with possible deals, something that the Kings will need to pursue Dallas Mavericks free-agent point guard Rajon Rondo, league sources said. The Kings and Rondo have a mutual interest, with Rondo intrigued with the idea of a potential one-year deal in Sacramento that could help to rebuild his league-wide value, sources said.

From the Woj Report...