I agree with this, but the problem is that not every NBA GM will be on board with this assessment of Cousins. If he's put on the block, at least one GM will unilaterally overpay for him. And then that team will be the new Sacramento Kings! Hooray! What I'm getting at is that there isn't much of a window for a real bargain to be had in a Cousins trade, that would minimize the risk to the Rockets. Some dumb knob of a GM running a bad team with nothing to lose would gladly go all-in on Cousins. Meanwhile, the Rockets are a .500ish team, the youngest in the league, with plenty of upside in the years to come--they'll only get better. So there would be an attempt to mitigate the risk of losing that built into every offer. End result? He'd go to another team.
Maybe something like the following would work (yeah, I know, a lot of pieces) http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=boyw5qw One more thing to add to the above is that Chicago sends a draft pick (preferably the protected Bobcats pick they own) to SAC as the price of dumping salary and avoiding luxury tax both this season and next.
Cousins is a taller, longer Z-Bo, that plays defense...and a short Z-Bo that doesn't defend is already a borderline all star.
He's a big part of the dysfunction Think Lamarcus Aldridge or Chris Webber there would add so much turmoil? Removing him out of there lessens dysfunction there by his ommission, and he'll bring some with him. I'm sure if he was gone, the franchise would have a nice sigh of RELIEF. The point is, he's a "buy low" option. You wouldnt have to gut the team for him. Sure it'd be worth it to trade plenty assets for a proven RELIABLE star player like Kevin Love or Aldridge, but its about whats attainable.
That Salmons contract is ugly. Though that'd probably be whats included in a Cousin's trade. And thats the Rockets advantage, room to absorb a little more salary than others. Not sure I'd do that deal. But its probably the realistic outlook of the market. And early practice towards being unattached to some Rockets prospects that'll be dealt away
Can Cousins play PF? If so, maybe we can offer Parsons, Morris, Aldrich for Cousins, Salmons and Hayes. Not sure how much I would go past that.
This is as far as I'd go for Cousins, and it still might be an overpay. If Sacramento wants something besides forwards and a maybe-center in D-Mo they'll have to find a third team themselves. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=boh5zz6
The attitude can be fixed, this team has handled plenty of headcases. Artest MadMax Barkley Francis McGrady Von Wafer Bonzi Wells Terrence Williams R.White
I would throw just about anything outside of Harden to get Cousins, but we would probably have to get some vets to help reign him in. McHale is exactly the type of coach he needs. 22 year old Cousins and 23 year old Harden, my god, we could be talking about that tandem for the next 8 years.
McHale + Carrol Dawson + maybe Olajuwon in the summer (and if I were Morey I'd personally pay Dream out of my wallet for this). I am perhaps irrationally enamored with this kid's potential, and definitely irrationally drunk at the moment.
Cousins is in his third year, and if he parellels Randolph's trajectory, that leaves about four or five seasons to go before he matures and hits his stride. And at year four, this Rockets team should be peaking as well. In terms of development years, it could work.
I think you guys are underrating Cousins stock price. The Kings know how good he can be and they won't trade him for a bag of chips. Most of you are dreaming, he's untouchable.
Actually I'll take a little bit back from my previous comment about the dysfunction. I forgot about coach Smart's "Harlem Globetrotters" epiphany. And it seems like since Adelman left, way before Cousins got there, their franchise has been steadily going downhill. Past several years the only good thing that's happened to them is Bonzi Wells TURNED DOWN $38 mil from them when he shouldnt have. Musselman, Theus, and Westphal coaching hires have been dreadful. Tyreke winning Rookie of the Year was even a mixed blessing. Alright. Yeah thats more more doable then, its amazing how unguaranteed million$ shaved off makes things more flexible.
Cousins did not raise the level of dysfunction on the Kings. They were a mess with the whole Artest deal, the Adelman firing and the subsequent coaching debacles, the Maloofs constantly complaining about the city and the arena, the Evans/KMart co-existence... everything about that team has been a failure for the past few years. Doesn't mean Cousins will succeed elsewhere, but it was pretty clear from the beginning that he couldn't have succeed in Sacramento.
