No, DeMarcus Cousins is not on the trade block

Despite the numerous teams trying to land DeMarcus Cousins, they are all getting nowhere.

DeMarcus Cousins has been involved in NBA trade rumors for months now. From the problems he’s had with new head coach George Karl, to the idea of the Sacramento Kings trading him away to remove his difficult personality, there’s always been a reason to discuss a possible Boogie trade. That idea has been as prevalent as ever this week as multiple teams were reportedly interested in trading for him, but despite their efforts, they’ve had no luck at all.

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders has confirmed what many basketball fans would have expected, and has revealed that while teams are trying to make calls to trade for Cousins, they aren’t getting anywhere with the Kings.

As December 15 hit, almost every NBA player became eligible for trade including nearly all free agents signed this summer. Of course, it didn’t take long for rumors to set the internet on fire. At the forefront of the trade frenzy was a report that the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls all want to try and make a deal for Cousins.

This is the kind of drama that fans everywhere love. Unless you’re from Sacramento, because seeing your best player leave isn’t exactly the best Christmas present you could hope for.

However, for the Celtics, trading for Cousins could be a serious turning point in their rebuild. They have great ball movement and they play stellar team defense (the 4th best in the NBA actually), but they lack a superstar who can be a go-to scorer and take over a game at will.

As for the Bulls, they have plenty of expendable frontcourt talent and acquiring Cousins would be a major upgrade. Pau Gasol has already admitted it’s ‘very likely’ that he’ll leave Chicago with his player option after this season, while Joakim Noah isn’t the player he was a few years ago and is by no means worth $13.4 million anymore.

For the Heat, well, they simply don’t want to lose Hassan Whiteside for nothing next summer. He’ll be a free agent, and they can’t afford to offer him the max contract he’s more than earned as the league-leader in blocks per game (4) and defensive rating (89.3). If he wants to get a massive pay-day, he’ll walk and the Heat will be left with nothing. Trying to trade him for Cousins to prevent that seems like a logical strategy.

Yet, no matter how hard these teams try to bring DeMarcus Cousins away from Sacramento, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon. No matter what package deals they throw at the Kings, it’s clear that Boogie is still not on the trade block.