Sacramento Kings GM Vlade Divac Admits Team Passed On Better Deal For DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings have been getting absolutely pummeled by NBA fans, players, media, aficionados, and novices alike for inexplicably trading DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans in what appears to be one of the most lopsided deals in league history.

Kings players returning after All-Star Weekend like… pic.twitter.com/7kZUweL8BC

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 20, 2017

The Nuggets got more first-round picks for Timofey Mozgov than the Kings got for DeMarcus Cousins.

— devin kharpertian (@uuords) February 20, 2017

Feels like there’s more to this Boogie trade – Kings moved abruptly and got 40 cents on dollar. I bet something happened behind the scenes.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 20, 2017

If you have friends who are Kings fans, hug them. Can’t believe that’s all Sac got in a trade for a player of Boogie’s caliber.

— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) February 20, 2017

Sacramento has gone through Jimmer Fredette, Ben McLemore, Nik Stauskas the past several years. Now they’ve traded Cousins for Buddy Hield.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 20, 2017

Even the Pelicans threw some shade Sacramento’s way on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/outsSA18Aw

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 20, 2017

The truth is, only time will tell who the winner of this deal is. If the Pelicans are unable to get Cousins to sign a contract extension and also refrain from trading him before he leaves town, then it will essentially be a wash.

However, any way you slice it, the Kings are an organization in turmoil currently.

Kings GM Vlade Divac indirectly admitted this to be true on Monday afternoon when he told reporters that Sacramento turned down a “better deal” for Cousins two days ago.

The most amazing moment of Vlade Divac’s presser today. Curious, what do you think of these comments from the Kings GM? pic.twitter.com/Uu6u2dWu8V

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) February 20, 2017

Clearly, Kings ownership and front office folk had a hard time deciding whether or not they should trade Cousins at all, and it cost them dearly.

You can check out Divac’s press conference in its entirety below and draw your own conclusions.