I believe DMC can be a restricted free agent next year and if that's true Sacramento may not have time to BS around. Asik, Lin, and D-Mo may get it done and Morey may would have to take the Chuck Waggon off their books as well...
Most likely they decline his qualifying offer for 2014/15 making him a restricted free agent next Summer. However either way, Sacramento ownership will most likely know that someone out there will offer DMC the max(I believe similar to Hardens deal). So it doesn't really matter if they do let him become a RFA, they either want him enough to give him the max, or they dont. Once the new ownership/GM get the team under their grasp this Summer we will get a good idea of what their outlook is. Obviously we dont know anything now about that direction. However, they will almost certainly have to take their time before they trade away their best player that quick.
I have to wonder if Cousins is another Zach Randolph or .... another Hasheem Thabeet. Randolph got it together after being traded to Memphis .... Thabeet couldn't beat out a 6'6" guy in Chuck Hayes.
Last year Cousins was one of only SEVEN players in the NBA to average at least 17pts and 10 rebounds a game. Cousins is already an elite & productive talent despite being on a terrible team. There couldn't be any worse comparisons out there for big men I could think of. If I could compare him to any big man in the same situation in past history I would have to say Pau Gasol when he was with the Grizzlies. Much more similar players than one would think. The major difference is Cousin's maturity and anger mgmt issues. Something that I think on a winning team would not only be minimized, but actually could be used to channel his emotion into winning basketball.
Sac's new management won;t give up Cousins, they might not 5 year max him, but they'll certainly match anything.
How can you make this statement? You are guessing because you don't know who the new management is for the new ownership group in Sac-town.
So, how will the new regime weigh in on this? This is why DMC is not a lock to stay or bring a max return.
Yes, it would be nice (as always) to get a disgruntled star talent from an underachieving team, but I don't see Sacramento trading him, especially for a bunch of role players and low 1st round picks. Of all their recent high lottery picks, he's really the only one left with franchise potential. They are going to give him every opportunity before they cut the cord.
With what has been going on with DMC if he is telling them he doesn't want to be there I seriously doubt they will max him out. But that's a player I would like to see Morey go after. DMC needs to get out of Sacramento and Morey has the assets to make it happen.
If they make him an RFA, he might go the Eric Gordon route and beg them to not match... but that still doesn't matter. As you saw with Eric Gordon, the team is going to match if they want to match, and the player is going to play unless injured. DMC can request a trade publicly to try and force their hands(which you might see happen as early as next year), but I've rarely seen that done with a player that has that many years left on a team. Most star players use impending UFA as a way to force their way out of a city early. If I had to predict, Id say that the new ownership will probably want to "See if they can make it work"(as noted earlier by my convo with Xixi), and then potentially look to move him at the trading deadline in February of next year if things go sour, or DMC/Fegan are trying hard to force him out of Sacramento. So if the Rockets miss out on Howard this Summer, I wouldn't be shocked if they start preparing heavily to make a run at trade deadline 2014 for DMC, Love, & Aldridge who all might be in the same situation as players potentially hitting the trade block at the same time. I for one, would rather the Rockets be patient, and not make a stupid free agent signing that hampers their cap flexibility going into next February where there are 3 guys I really, really would love to have, and would be a perfect fit on this team moving forward.
I got a better idea try this Hou IN: Howard & Cousins, and then sign Paul Hou out: Lin, Asik, D-Mo, beverley, Tjones & G. Smith Sac IN: Lin, Smith, Beverley, Tjones Sac out: Cousins, Thornton, Thompson LaL IN: Asik, Thornton, Thompson, D-MO LaL out: Howard (SnT with rockets) Rockets lineup: Paul Harden Parsons Cousins / T Rob Howard
