Source: Houston Potential Destination for Cousins, but Unlikely...

I can almost guarantee you that Sacramento doesn't trade Cousins without dumping some of its crappy contracts (namely, John Salmons at $8 million plus over the next several seasons) in the process.

THAT is how a team's cap situation would be messed up.

Morey would need to determine if Cousins's talent merits this being "the move for the second star" for which the Rockets have been planning so carefully over the past few seasons.

 

If the source say 'unlikely', it sounds very likely...Morey tried hard to trade up and get Cousins a couple years ago.

It maybe similar to the Martin trade when Kings insisted the red hot Landry as return. Now we also have another young guy from bench and post league leading efficiency stats in Greg Smith. Kings may want him in return and Morey is holding back until the last minute.

 

I think it's far more likely Smith, Moti, or TJ will turn into an All Star PF than Cousins will turn into a tolerable character. His risk >> reward to any NBA team. Pass.

 

Would Cousins be an upgrade over Patterson? Of course. You do this and hope you can keep Pats to come off the bench and sort of be that big brother to Cousins again.

 

DeMarcus Cousins is a sign of the imminent collapse of western civilization.

 

Well, if the shoe fits...

 

I wouldn't want cousins unless they throw in a first.

 

No FA has taken Sacramento's money for years now. If they have to choose between more picks/talent over salary dumping, they'll always choose the former. I don't think Sacramento, a perennial salary-floor team, actually cares that much about an $8mil/yr contract.

 

The difference is that the Rockets have a center now in Asik. Optimally, assuming Cousins isn't a headcase, he'd be best suited to take over Greg Smith's role as a backup center. Then make his way into being a 6th man role, playing alongside Asik in spot minutes when the matchups are good. And eventually become a PF once his game fully develops. And then the Rockets transition into a half-court team with Cousins and Harden as the backbone of their offense.

In real life, Cousins would pout and throw a fit if the Rockets "demote" him into a backup role. And he's not good enough right now to start at PF. Not with his shooting.

 

High risk, High reward.

 

Trade him for Royce White!

 

Not to mention that Cousins is not going to be locked into that rookie scale contract for much longer. His offer year is coming up, and unless he feels like putting in some charitable volunteer work at the local basketball franchise, he's going to want near-max money shortly. Not that I think he'd be worth it in any way, shape, or form, but these are the realities of the NBA marketplace.

Rockets fans would need to ask themselves if having no chance at all of chasing big name players like Kevin Love in his expiring contract year would be worth acquiring Cousins and some overpaid garbage. Long term, I just don't see how it's worth it, and people who think Cousins ceiling is as a player as valuable as Kevin Love are probably kidding themselves.

 

I mean...Chuck Hayes, I guess...but I'm of the opinion that Chuckwagon is worth his contract. He does so many things defensively that don't even show up on a stat sheet. But I'm not telling Rockets fans anything they don't know already.

 

In the unlikely event that Morey acquired Cousins, you start him at the 4 (then he isn't upset about not starting), and then/or move him to the 5 if the matchup looks right, wanting a far different look at the spot, perhaps, or if Asik gets in foul trouble. "Small ball?" Cousins would be a load at the 5. He would be crazy good in a small ball lineup at the 5 spot if his head is screwed on tight. While he isn't "small" by a long shot, he athleticism would make him a good fit in that lineup, IMO. Just a thought.

I don't know what we would do with Salmons and his contract if he were a part of the price to get Cousins. John Salmons has a 15% trade kicker, according to Sham Sports, who rarely gets the details wrong. That would make his already bad contract that much worse, wouldn't it?

http://data.shamsports.com/content/pages/playerProfiles/profileDisplay.jsp?id=310

Here's a list from Sham of all the players in the league with trade kickers. There are some really bad GM's out there.

- Tony Battie (10%)
- Mark Blount (15%)
- Bruce Bowen (lesser of 15% or $300,000)
- Devin Brown (10%)
- Greg Buckner (5%)
- Kevin Garnett (15%)
- Drew Gooden (5%)
- Eddie House (7.5%)
- Steven Hunter (7.5%)
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15%)
- Mike James (5%)
- Jared Jeffries (15%)
- Amir Johnson (15%)
- Mikki Moore (12.5%)
- Shaquille O'Neal (15%)
- Quentin Richardson (7.5%)
- John Salmons (15%)
- Bobby Simmons (10%)
- Etan Thomas (15%)
- Damien Wilkins (10%, only up to $1.2 mil)

Some, or rather most of the players on the list are out of the league or in Europe. Hell, Shaq is in the purgatory of broadcasting. That's all I can remember after a very busy, very late night. Looks quite out of date to this Blade Runner. I may need to oil my blaster and look out for NBA replicants. There are several playing, or tweeting, that have me quite suspicious. The suspects should be obvious to anyone caring to delve into the subject. God or somebody help us all!

 

Not sure why the Kings wouldn't want a young and productive center like Asik in the deal to replace Cousins if they were to deal with the Rockets. I just don't see us keeping Asik in a Cousins deal. We don't have much to offer them in regards to proven players. Asik and Parsons. Everything else is a gamble. You don't know how Patterson, Morris, D-Mo and T. Jones are going to pan out, but you have a pretty good idea about Asik and Parsons. They hang up if we aren't at least offering one of those guys and if you can hold on to one, it makes more sense to keep Parsons because Cousins and Asik play the same position.

 

Put him at pf since he has a decent post game and can rebound. Trade Patterson and let jones/dmo fight for rotation minutes

 

Without asik we would be in the gutter right now, no trade should involve him

 

You have to give up something to get a guy like Cousins. Crazy or not. Parsons or Asik? Those are the only realistic tradeable assets that the Rockets have at the moment woth anything significant. Morris and Patterson are ok and D-Mo and Jones haven't played enough to prove they are worth being the centerpiece of any trade involving a player of this stature. Kings hang up if you aren't including at least one of those guys because they can get a better deal somewhere else.

 

Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Terrence Jones, and Royce White for Demarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes, Travis Outlaw, Aaaron Brooks, AND Tyler Honeycutt.

For Sacramento: Get rid of Cousins who doesn't want to be there and get rid of unwanted contracts in Hayes and Outlaw. Trade Brooks to free up playing time for younger PGs in Isiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette. They get a lot younger (Aldrich oldest player at 25). Patterson, Morris, and Jones all young solid players. White could receive PT right away in Sac so he'd probably shut his mouth.

For Houston: Pickup a possible superstar in Cousins, a reliable backup PG in Brooks, and fan favorite Hayes.

Cut Honeycutt. No need to sign Beverley anymore with Brooks. Sign Anderson.

C: Asik/Smith
PF: Cousins/Hayes/DMo
SF: Parsons/Delfino/Outlaw
SG: Harden/Douglas/Anderson
PG: Lin/Brooks/Machado

 

lol pls

Guys like Kmart who averaged 24 ppg certain seasons never made all star. Same with players like Ellis.