Despite the incessant trade rumors, the front-office in Sacramento insists that Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins is not being shopped under any circumstances.
But that reportedly hasn’t stopped head coach George Karl from looking for a way to unload the 24-year-old stud.
Boogie posted a subtly brilliant (and familiar) response on Twitter early Tuesday morning once the story broke.
🌾🐍🌾
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 23, 2015
Damn karl pic.twitter.com/QbUyBF4EMb
— K-Ali™ (@LordBluHef) June 23, 2015
Cousins made his first All-Star team last season, averaging 24.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and has three seasons and a combined $47.2 million left on his current deal.
Per Yahoo! Sports and USA Today:
Karl has been recruiting Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and multiple players on the Kings’ roster to unite with him in making the case to owner Vivek Ranadive that Cousins needs to be traded, league sources said. […] Since the end of the 2014-15 season, Cousins has become aware of Karl’s campaign to move him – including teammates telling Cousins, sources said. All around the Kings and Cousins, there is a growing belief the coach-player relationship is irreparable. Trust is a constant theme with Cousins, and he’s been unable to build any with Karl, sources said.
Ranadive has remained the biggest Kings advocate for holding onto Cousins, and several sources indicate he has become irritated with Karl’s insistence that the coach doesn’t believe he can manage the supremely skilled and strong-minded star. Cousins has held a firm loyalty to former Kings coach Michael Malone, whom Ranadive fired shortly into last season. Under Karl, that relationship couldn’t begin to be duplicated in the final weeks of the season.
“We have zero interest in moving Cousins, so I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Ranadive said when asked about an ESPN.com report in which a Kings-Los Angeles Lakers-Orlando Magic trade scenario was discussed. “But if you like, you should talk to (Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations) Vlade (Divac), because I know Vlade feels exactly the same way. And I’m deferring to Vlade on everything. We have no interest in moving him. From my perspective, it’s really simple: we feel that he’s a one-of-a-kind player, and we have a group of players right now and we’re going to build on it.”
