National Basketball Association

Report: DeMarcus Cousins a potential Celtics trade target

Published May. 1, 2015 12:26 p.m. ET

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The Celtics reportedly will make a push to bring Boogie to Boston this offseason.

ESPN’s Marc Stein reported Friday that Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins will be among the Celtics’ many trade targets as president of basketball operations Danny Ainge looks to bolster his roster in the coming months.

“Will (the Celtics) open their war chest of future draft picks to try to pry DeMarcus Cousins away from the Sacramento via trade?” Stein wrote. “The early word out there is: Bank on it. Will they be in the mix for pretty much any name player who unexpectedly comes available in coming months? Bank on that, too.”

Stein’s report aligns with Ainge’s most recent public comments. The Boston boss said Thursday the C’s plan to target “anybody and everybody” this summer.

“I feel like we need to have a busy summer,” Ainge said. “And we will have a busy summer. Hopefully, we can get some things accomplished that we need to.”

Cousins is regarded as one of the NBA’s top young big men, and he’s coming off a season in which he averaged career highs in points (24.1 per game) and rebounds (12.7). Both of those marks would have led the Celtics by a significant margin, as would Cousins’ 25.3 PER.

Point guard Isaiah Thomas (22.5) was the only Celtic to record a PER above 20.

Cousins doesn’t have the friendliest of histories with the C’s, however. He was ejected from the teams’ first meeting this season after throwing rookie Marcus Smart to the court, then received one of his 14 technical fouls when the Celtics visited the Kings two months later.

Temper always has been an issue for the 24-year-old, whose 14 techs ranked third in the NBA behind only Markieff Morris (15) and Russell Westbrook (17).

Cousins was an absolute beast in that second meeting, though, manhandling a shorthanded Celtics team to the tune of 31 points (12-of-18 shooting) and 15 rebounds as the Kings won 109-101. That production was enough to offset his season-high-tying nine turnovers.

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