NBA Trade Rumors: DeMarcus Cousins To Celtics, Jaylen Brown To Kings With Draft Picks?

The latest of the NBA trade rumors involve Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins. While there has been plenty of speculation regarding his teammate Rudy Gay, it appears the Kings franchise is not committed to either of their top stars at this point. That could be good news for the Boston Celtics, a team that has emerged in the discussion of contenders in the Eastern Conference. Could they possibly swing a trade deal involving their heralded draft pick Jaylen Brown and more in order to get Cousins from Sacramento?

As Sportsrageous indicates in their Cousins trade rumors report, the Celtics are the best trade partners for making a deal with Sacramento. The website postulates that Boston could send Jaylen Brown along with some of their future draft picks to a Kings team looking to rebuild. Sacramento is in a serious struggle right now as they have failed to make the playoffs and have two unhappy stars in Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins.

Sportsrageous believes the team needs to make some deals in their favor before they lose out on a big star for nothing in return. That would be similar to what happened to the Oklahoma City Thunder when Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors.

On Sunday, USA Today had an interview with Sacramento Kings resident owner Vivek Ranadive in which he wasn’t exactly expressing any sort of commitment to Cousins. Ranadive praised Cousins as a player but many times deflected the question asked, saying it would be better to ask General Manager Vlade Divac. Ranadive said he believes Cousins looks up to both Vlade and the Kings coach.

When asked if DeMarcus is the player the team is building around, Ranadive deflected his answer.

“You should ask Vlade that question. As a fan, I think he’s great. But I think Vlade is the guy (to answer that).”

Ranadive also mentioned that he had to make a decision back in 2013 over whether to give Cousins a contract extension or not, but after that, the decisions have been in Divac’s hands.

“I feel like that was the right decision. But other than that, I haven’t really made any basketball decisions, because after that I hired a GM and a coach and everyone else. But I expect that Vlade will make the right calls. I think DeMarcus truly looks up to Vlade. I think he truly likes the coach.”

As mentioned, the Kings are clearly heading to rebuild mode. Cousins was the team’s leading scorer for the 2015-16 season with 26.9 points per game. He also led with rebounds, pulling down 11.5 boards a game, and blocks, averaging 1.4 per contest. Rudy Gay was the team’s second scorer, putting in about 17 points a game on average. Both players want out of town, or at least a better situation for themselves.

The last thing this team wants is to simply wait around and hope for their players to have a change of heart. Therefore finding the best trade deals as quickly as possible will be crucial. Both Gay and Cousins can bring plenty in return based on their abilities. Boston would be able to give the Kings a lot of future potential while they rebuild with Jayley Brown and the draft picks.

Brown is still unproven as he comes out of college with 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and two assists a game. However, he’s a 6-foot-7 small forward with plenty of potential to be the start of a team. Boston clearly believed as much if they drafted him with the third overall pick this past summer. Perhaps the Kings should take a gamble and get someone who could help this franchise start to rebuild again?

For the Boston Celtics, it would be interesting if they added the abilities of Cousins to a frontline that recently added big man Al Horford. That would make for an imposing frontcourt and would be quite an inside-outside combination with All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas. It would also give the Celtics yet another “Big Three” combo to possibly contend with the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East. The Celtics want to get over the hump so to speak, but they may wait a bit to see how much they’ve improved by adding Horford first.

NBA fans do you think the Kings should consider sending Cousins over to Boston for Jaylen Brown and draft picks or are there better deals out there?

[Featured Image by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]