Sources: Lakers trying to pry Cousins from Kings
The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as one of the most determined trade suitors for Sacramento Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN that the Lakers have been actively pursuing trade scenarios in recent weeks in attempt to construct a deal that would convince the Kings to part with Cousins.
The Kings, though, continue to insist that Cousins is not available. The team’s new lead decision maker, Vlade Divac, told the Sacramento Bee in Sunday’s editions that dealing away his best player “is not happening.”
Sources say that the Lakers, Kings and Orlando Magic have had exploratory dialogue on a three-way Cousins trade that would land the 24-year-old in Los Angeles. All three teams hold top-six picks in Thursday’s NBA draft, and Orlando has a young top-flight center of its own in Nikola Vucevic, who could theoretically fill the Cousins void.
Yet since assuming control of the Kings’ front office in April, Divac repeatedly has downplayed the idea of parting with Cousins, who has three seasons left on an extension he signed during the summer of 2013.
The Lakers would appear to have limited assets to get into the trade sweepstakes for Cousins — in the event Sacramento’s stance changes — beyond surrendering prized young big man Julius Randle and/or the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday’s draft.
Orlando holds the fifth pick in the draft but would presumably expect a lot to be willing to part with Vucevic, who signed an extension of his own last October and has become the most consistently productive player from the four-team blockbuster trade in August 2012 that sent Dwight Howard from the Magic to the Lakers.
Divac, though, told the Bee in the recent interview that his preference is to “do something, a small move, before the draft.”
“We have a lot of changes to make,” said Divac, whose Kings hold the sixth overall pick Thursday night. “The league is much more up-tempo now and we need more thre3-point shooting. If we don’t get that in the draft, we’ll be active in free agency and see about making trades later in the offseason.”
ESPN reported in May after the Boston Celtics‘ first-round elimination that the Celtics planned to be at the front of the line in terms of trying to trade for Cousins this offseason.
The Denver Nuggets have also been increasingly mentioned as a likely trade suitor for Cousins since the hiring of former Kings coach and Cousins favorite Mike Malone as their new coach. But Denver wouldn’t appear to have the sort of trade assets to rival Boston’s cache of future first-round picks, which tend to become especially handy when trying to assemble multi-team trades.
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