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The off-season NBA rumors are going to continue to swirl throughout the summer months and it just wouldn’t be right if DeMarcus Cousins‘ name wasn’t thrown into the mix.
Cousins has All-Star level talent, but he has continuously had attitude issues since entering the NBA a few seasons ago. With tons of potential and upside, the Sacramento Kings have always been rumored to be looking elsewhere to gather some return value for the center who they had hoped would be the anchor for years to come. Now while that could still be an option, Cousins is once again being throw into the rumor mill, according to ESPN‘s Chad Ford:
Sources say the Cavs have already begun to explore what they can get with the No. 1 pick. If they can get a young big or small forward in return, Gilbert will be pushing for them to trade the pick. Who can they get? The pickings will be slim. Teams aren’t dying to get the No. 1 pick. But one name that you shouldn’t totally rule out is the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins.
The Cavs won’t be the only team calling the Kings once they get a new GM in place. Sources say that the Charlotte Bobcats and Dallas Mavericks will also have interest in Cousins if Sacramento’s new management decides to cut ties with Cousins.
At this point, it will be interesting to see how things will play out. While the Cleveland Cavaliers are obviously exploring options with the No. 1 overall pick, they still very well could sit tight with things. In fact, even if they are interesting in shopping the top selection, a scoring forward could be their potential target.
As for the other two teams mentioned in Ford’s rumor, the Charlotte Bobcats can certainly use a franchise guy and they do currently own the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, while the Kings sit at No. 7. The Dallas Mavericks are also eye-balling free agent center Dwight Howard, so while Cousins could be appealing, it might not be something that would come up on draft night.
The Kings are moving forward with some internal decisions in terms of a new general manager and head coach first, so don’t expect this rumor to gather any steam anytime soon.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
