Kings owner reportedly won’t allow DeMarcus Cousins to be traded
Sacramento coach George Karl wants to trade forward DeMarcus Cousins. The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly interested in acquiring the 24-year-old All-Star and are willing to give up the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
One problem: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive will not approve trading Cousins.
Ranadive told USA Today on Monday that the Kings have “zero interest” in trading Cousins.
King vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac also was adamant that Cousins will not be traded.
If Divac changes his mind, other teams besides the Lakers — the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers, — have shown an interest in acquiring Cousins.
ESPN.com reported Karl might like to trade Cousins to Denver for forward Kenneth Faried and guard Ty Lawson.
But on Tuesday, a “very irritated” Divac again told the Sacramento Bee that he is not trading Cousins and denied that Karl is pushing for a trade.
Cousins and Karl have not spoken to each other since April, according to the Bee.
However, Yahoo Sports reported that the Kings are looking into trading anyone else on the roster, particularly forward Rudy Gay. The Kings are trying to create cap room with the idea of pursuing Dallas Mavericks free-agent point guard Rajon Rondo.
