There are rumors that the Kings are finally ready to trade DeMarcus Cousins but executives of opposing teams have deemed Sacramento's asking price as "unrealistic".
Cousins, 26, has been the subject of a lot of trade rumors since last season and latest speculations revealed that Sacramento is now shopping him to interested teams. While the former Kentucky standout remains to be one of the best centers in the league, statistically speaking, rumors said that teams are hesitant to bring Boogie to their side.
Senior officials of several unnamed NBA teams have recently expressed their opinions on Cousins' current trade availability and almost all of them are saying that it would be hard to deal with the Kings because they "have set an unrealistic price" for the two-time NBA All-Star, according to Bleacher Report.
An executive of a Western Conference squad said that the chance of Cousins getting traded this season is "50-50", not because the Kings are not yet ready to move on from the mercurial big man but because "they have no other choice" but to keep him.
"They'll never get what they want in return," said one Eastern Conference general manager, as per Amico Hoops. "They think Cousins is worth more than he actually is. He hurts you every bit as much as he helps you. He's like a cheeseburger, or booze. Too much and you'll pay a price."
Another anonymous senior official reportedly divulged Kings general manager Vlade Divac and team owner Vivek Ranadive to have "secretly" explored trade options involving Cousins. However, they found no team interested in their franchise player especially after the club had expressed what they wanted in return.
"They try to act like they would never ever trade him, but why not?" another GM said. "That team stinks. They have since (Cousins) got there."
That GM later revealed that Divac and Ranadive "asked me about him (Cousins)" and what he would give up in return. The GM told the duo that he is willing to give "not much" and the talks immediately ended.
One Western Conference official said that he would take a risk on signing Cousins, but he would need a "dominant personality" to control the two-time All-NBA Second Teamer.
"I've been in that locker room. He's a problem. They'd love to trade him, but can't," the West exec said. "So they act like they won't. They would, though - tomorrow."