Vlade Divac says Kings aren’t trading DeMarcus Cousins
Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac is making it known that the team isn’t going to trade star center DeMarcus Cousins.
The saga of the Sacramento Kings and DeMarcus Cousins feels like one that basketball fans are going to have the opportunity of enduring forever. Despite all the trade rumors that pop up year after year regarding the star center, the franchise seems committed to keeping him even if they can’t take the next step. There have been some rumors regarding Cousins lately, but ESPN’s Marc Stein reported on Monday night, that general manager Vlade Divac isn’t trading him.
With a direct quote from Divac, Stein took to Twitter to inform the masses that any hopes that they had of seeing Cousins getting traded isn’t likely. He even mentioned that Divac has told Cousins that he won’t be traded with the deadline drawing near.
Story going online now: Kings GM Vlade Divac, weary of recent DeMarcus Cousins trade speculation, tells @espn: "We're not trading DeMarcus."
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 7, 2017
Sources say Divac recently met with Cousins and his reps to assure them the All-Star C is going nowhere as the Feb. 23 trade deadline nears.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 7, 2017
For someone to pry Cousins out of Sacramento, it’s going to take a monumental package. Superstar big men like him don’t come around often and the Kings feel their best chance to be competitive is with him.
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While Cousins has certainly had issues on the floor, the team hasn’t done a very good job of surrounding him with talent. Strange draft choices and a series of poor choices has left the team competing for a top lottery pick that they very well could lose to the Philadelphia 76ers.
So for as long as the Kings continue to struggle to win basketball games, these rumors are going to persist. If they start finally winning it might die down, but that’s a big if for a team that has had trouble doing so.