National Basketball Association

Report: DeMarcus Cousins asked for a trade last month

Published Jun. 23, 2015 5:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Ryan Phillips

As rumors continue to swirl around the Sacramento Kings and DeMarcus Cousins, a new report on Tuesday threw more gasoline on the fire. According to Dave Carmichael of KHTK Sports in Sacramento, Cousins asked for a trade last month.

This really shouldn’t surprise anyone as there is clearly tension between Cousins and newly-hired coach George Karl. The All-Star center has almost no leverage to force a trade, since he has three years and $47.2 million left on his current contract. On top of that, with the news that Cousins wants out and Karl doesn’t want Cousins, Sacramento’s front office also has zero leverage in trade talks with other teams. So this situation is more than a little absurd.

While the 2015 NBA Draft is just two days away, I really don’t see the Kings making a move before then. It takes time to piece together the kind of blockbuster that would entice them to move their best player, and until now they have vehemently denied any desire to trade him.

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has reiterated that he won’t allow Karl to force Cousins out. Ranadive clearly wants to keep his best player and the team’s vice president, Vlade Divac, doesn’t want to trade him either. In this type of situation the executives almost always win out.

Clearly Ranadive and Divac have to work on getting Karl and Cousins into a room to work out their differences. The two apparently haven’t even spoken since April. The Kings need to get this sorted out because right now they look ridiculous.

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