Magic were offered Cousins?

[Evantime34]

I don't believe this for a second. It seems more likely that the Magic offered this and were turned down, then leak it in an effort to make Vucevic look more desirable at the deadline.

All rumors are leaked for specific reasons. There is no benefit to the Kings leaking this, so I assume it was leaked by the Magic. Since the rumor didn't come from the Kings, I doubt the offer did either.

If the Kings were actively shopping Cousins, he would already be on another team.

[MBunge]

I see no reason to doubt this.  From Sacramento's perspective they get better on the court with both Vuc and Fournier plus probably pick up at least 1 future first.

How would that make Sacramento better?

Cousins produces almost as much on his own as Fournier and Vucevic do combined, and they'd be opening up a gaping hole in the middle defensively while also negatively affecting their spacing.

Sacramento has sucked forever WITH Cousins.  Worrying about spacing in this situation is silly.

Vucevic and Fournier seem like legit NBA starters and they're locked up for two and four more years respectively.  Cousins is a free agent after next season.  It's swapping out a headcase superstar who is going to demand all the max money, despite never winning you a blessed thing, for two maybe-stars who will probably cost less combined and at least one first round pick.

Nothing is going to make Sacramento better this year but the trade would clearly open up more avenues for improvement than simply trusting in Cousins to stop being a knucklehead.

I can see Sacramento making the offer and I can see the Orlando GM turning it down because he's an idiot.

The best option for the Kings, of course, is too hope Boston gets the #1 and then trade Boogie for that, the Nets 2018 pick, the Memphis pick, one first rounder from us, Bradley and Zeller.

Mike

[csfansince60s]

Leaked by the master of deception, Danny, to lower Cousins' value!!!!!

[Roy H.]

I see no reason to doubt this.  From Sacramento's perspective they get better on the court with both Vuc and Fournier plus probably pick up at least 1 future first.

How would that make Sacramento better?

Cousins produces almost as much on his own as Fournier and Vucevic do combined, and they'd be opening up a gaping hole in the middle defensively while also negatively affecting their spacing.

Sacramento has sucked forever WITH Cousins.  Worrying about spacing in this situation is silly.

Vucevic and Fournier seem like legit NBA starters and they're locked up for two and four more years respectively.  Cousins is a free agent after next season.  It's swapping out a headcase superstar who is going to demand all the max money, despite never winning you a blessed thing, for two maybe-stars who will probably cost less combined and at least one first round pick.

Nothing is going to make Sacramento better this year but the trade would clearly open up more avenues for improvement than simply trusting in Cousins to stop being a knucklehead.

I can see Sacramento making the offer and I can see the Orlando GM turning it down because he's an idiot.

The best option for the Kings, of course, is too hope Boston gets the #1 and then trade Boogie for that, the Nets 2018 pick, the Memphis pick, one first rounder from us, Bradley and Zeller.

Mike

What has Orlando won with Vucevic and Fournier?

Also, one superstar > two (non-)"maybe stars".

Cousins: 27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.3 blocks, 7.7FTM, 1.7 3PM

"Maybe stars": 30.7 points, 13.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.1 blocks, 4.5FTM, 1.9 3PM

Cousins makes more threes than Fornier, and shoots a higher percentage. He's got the highest ORtg lowest DRtg, and best TS% of any of the three.

To equal or exceed the non-stars production, the Kings would needs starting SG who averages 2.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.0 blocks, 0.0 FTM, and 0.2 FTM.  That's roughly Demetrius Jackson production (in 4.3 minutes per game).

[Darío SpanishFan]

I see no reason to doubt this.  From Sacramento's perspective they get better on the court with both Vuc and Fournier plus probably pick up at least 1 future first.

How would that make Sacramento better?

Cousins produces almost as much on his own as Fournier and Vucevic do combined, and they'd be opening up a gaping hole in the middle defensively while also negatively affecting their spacing.

Sacramento has sucked forever WITH Cousins.  Worrying about spacing in this situation is silly.

Vucevic and Fournier seem like legit NBA starters and they're locked up for two and four more years respectively.  Cousins is a free agent after next season.  It's swapping out a headcase superstar who is going to demand all the max money, despite never winning you a blessed thing, for two maybe-stars who will probably cost less combined and at least one first round pick.

Nothing is going to make Sacramento better this year but the trade would clearly open up more avenues for improvement than simply trusting in Cousins to stop being a knucklehead.

I can see Sacramento making the offer and I can see the Orlando GM turning it down because he's an idiot.

The best option for the Kings, of course, is too hope Boston gets the #1 and then trade Boogie for that, the Nets 2018 pick, the Memphis pick, one first rounder from us, Bradley and Zeller.

Mike

What has Orlando won with Vucevic and Fournier?

Sometimes it is soooo easy to refute unreasonable posts.

[Denis998]

Id suspect Gordon would be included as well. Kings owner doesn't know much about basketball; I suspect a high flying dunker like Gordon would peak his interests.

[SHAQATTACK]

I wouldn't trade Cousins sneakers for Gordon .

[bogg]

I doubt it. Hennigan supposedly also told a group of season ticket holders that the Bulls wanted Fournier and a pick for Jimmy Butler and he turned them down, which I don't believe either. I think this is just Orlando trying to pump up the perceived value of Fournier.

[hpantazo]

As our president would say "didn't happen. FAKE NEWS

[Ogaju]

I see no reason to doubt this.  From Sacramento's perspective they get better on the court with both Vuc and Fournier plus probably pick up at least 1 future first.

How would that make Sacramento better?

Cousins produces almost as much on his own as Fournier and Vucevic do combined, and they'd be opening up a gaping hole in the middle defensively while also negatively affecting their spacing.

Sacramento has sucked forever WITH Cousins.  Worrying about spacing in this situation is silly.

Vucevic and Fournier seem like legit NBA starters and they're locked up for two and four more years respectively.  Cousins is a free agent after next season.  It's swapping out a headcase superstar who is going to demand all the max money, despite never winning you a blessed thing, for two maybe-stars who will probably cost less combined and at least one first round pick.

Nothing is going to make Sacramento better this year but the trade would clearly open up more avenues for improvement than simply trusting in Cousins to stop being a knucklehead.

I can see Sacramento making the offer and I can see the Orlando GM turning it down because he's an idiot.

The best option for the Kings, of course, is too hope Boston gets the #1 and then trade Boogie for that, the Nets 2018 pick, the Memphis pick, one first rounder from us, Bradley and Zeller.

Mike

why stop at that? We should throw in IT Crowder Smart and Horford just to make sure.

[Eddie20]

Meet DeMarcus Cousins, the present day Derrick Coleman who's talent is overshadowed by his volatile personality and inconsistent effort. Stats are great, but neither helps his team win or does anything to make those around them better.

[jambr380]

I am in agreement with everybody that it does seem like a questionable offer coming from the Kings side, but we have to remember that different franchises have different player preferences - even if it doesn't make much sense to us.

Also, the first round pick we are talking about is currently slotted as 4th in this year's draft. While Cousins may push the Magic to a couple of more wins (not something he has really proven to be able to do), it is unlikely to fall below 7th. With a lot of top tier talent at the top part of this draft, that has to be the biggest asset in this deal.

[IDreamCeltics]

As our president would say "didn't happen. FAKE NEWS

You don't even see the irony in this do you? 😀

[Roy H.]

I am in agreement with everybody that it does seem like a questionable offer coming from the Kings side, but we have to remember that different franchises have different player preferences - even if it doesn't make much sense to us.

Also, the first round pick we are talking about is currently slotted as 4th in this year's draft. While Cousins may push the Magic to a couple of more wins (not something he has really proven to be able to do), it is unlikely to fall below 7th. With a lot of top tier talent at the top part of this draft, that has to be the biggest asset in this deal.

The "source" says it was Vuc + EITHER Fournier OR draft picks, not all of the above.

[MBunge]

I see no reason to doubt this.  From Sacramento's perspective they get better on the court with both Vuc and Fournier plus probably pick up at least 1 future first.

How would that make Sacramento better?

Cousins produces almost as much on his own as Fournier and Vucevic do combined, and they'd be opening up a gaping hole in the middle defensively while also negatively affecting their spacing.

Sacramento has sucked forever WITH Cousins.  Worrying about spacing in this situation is silly.

Vucevic and Fournier seem like legit NBA starters and they're locked up for two and four more years respectively.  Cousins is a free agent after next season.  It's swapping out a headcase superstar who is going to demand all the max money, despite never winning you a blessed thing, for two maybe-stars who will probably cost less combined and at least one first round pick.

Nothing is going to make Sacramento better this year but the trade would clearly open up more avenues for improvement than simply trusting in Cousins to stop being a knucklehead.

I can see Sacramento making the offer and I can see the Orlando GM turning it down because he's an idiot.

The best option for the Kings, of course, is too hope Boston gets the #1 and then trade Boogie for that, the Nets 2018 pick, the Memphis pick, one first rounder from us, Bradley and Zeller.

Mike

What has Orlando won with Vucevic and Fournier?

Also, one superstar > two (non-)"maybe stars".

Cousins: 27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.3 blocks, 7.7FTM, 1.7 3PM

"Maybe stars": 30.7 points, 13.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.1 blocks, 4.5FTM, 1.9 3PM

Cousins makes more threes than Fornier, and shoots a higher percentage. He's got the highest ORtg lowest DRtg, and best TS% of any of the three.

To equal or exceed the non-stars production, the Kings would needs starting SG who averages 2.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.0 blocks, 0.0 FTM, and 0.2 FTM.  That's roughly Demetrius Jackson production (in 4.3 minutes per game).

See that thing over there you missed?  It's called the point.

1.  I brought up the Kings' lack of success with Cousins in connection to your concern about "spacing."  IT MAKES NO SENSE to worry about "spacing" when your team is on pace to win 35 or fewer games for the seventh season in a row, despite having a supposedly elite player.

2.  As I wrote, there's nothing the Kings can do to be better right now, including trading Cousins for Vucevic and Fournier.  The question is which is better for potential future success?  Invest a max salary chunk of your cap in a headcase who has been an enormous pain to deal with and hasn't even led you to a .500 record, or probably spending less money on two mid-level starters who have little record of being problems on or off the court and getting at least one additional first round pick?  It's the choice between scrambling to be a win-now team that's bet everything on one guy with a terrible track record or going into a rebuild with as many options as possible.  There's nothing crazy about preferring the latter option.

Do I think this is the best deal they could get for Cousins?  No.  Do I think they should make the trade?  No.  A smart NBA GM, however, has to think beyond the moment and realize that sometimes taking a step back is the only way to move forward.

Mike