Demarcus Cousins Will Not be a Celtic Anytime Soon

It’s no secret that Danny Ainge is enamored by DeMarcus Cousins. Who isn’t?  Any rational GM in the league would love to acquire the 24-year-old All-Star, who is – without a doubt – the best offensive center in the league (sorry, Big Al).  While Cousins has had some well-documented emotional issues, he’s young, All-NBA caliber, and still years away from reaching his potential.

But he’s not going to the Boston Celtics.

The Kings are indeed a dumpster-fire of an organization, but nobody is so incompetent, that they’d trade Cousins to the Celtics for a few mid-level draft picks and unproven talent (barring Marcus Smart).  While I’d certainly love to eat my words if I’m proven wrong, I’m merely here to prevent us, as Celtics fans, from getting our hopes up too high.

Cousins, who averaged 24 points and 13 rebounds last year, is the best player the Kings have had since Chris Webber.  His brute strength – totally unstoppable in the paint – coupled with his growing arsenal of post moves, forces opposing team’s defenses to double him in the low post, often resulting in open shooters on the perimeter.

Surrounding Cousins with a well-balanced roster, complete with decent shooters and a consistent coaching presence, would certainly prove to be a winning formula.  But this is the Kings were talking about.

Since Cousins was drafted 5th in the 2010 draft, he’s had a rotating cast of coaches, teammates and owners.  Former Owners, The Maloofs, who were criminal in their treatment of Sacramento Kings fans, finally sold the organization to Vivek Ranadive, a former-Golden State Warriors owner.  Kings fans had thought this marked the end of their struggles, however, it appears Ranadive wanted to be more than just a figurehead.

During the 2014 NBA draft, the Kings allowed a Grantland film crew inside their “war room” to allow fans to see what it looks like inside an NBA front office during the draft.  While the Kings were in desperate need of a point guard, after letting Isaiah Thomas walk, it appeared, during the video, that Ranadive shifted the conversation away from drafting point guard Elfrid Payton, the logical choice, to shooter Nik Stauskas. Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro obliged, perhaps in order to appease his boss, and selected Stauskas.

While Stauskas may not have been a bad pick, as only time will tell, perhaps the most sinful move this new Kings organization has made was firing head coach Mike Malone. By the beginning of the 2014-2015 season, it was clear that Malone and Cousins had bonded.  The Kings began the season 9-6 in an extremely competitive Western Conference. Everything on the surface appeared fine, as it seemed the Kings had a legitimate chance at clinching their first playoffs since 2006, until Cousins got injured. After that, the team struggled and went 2-7.

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Once the team slid to 11-13, the Kings fired Mike Malone. Perhaps Malone was doomed from the start and this sudden-regression was merely the excuse they were looking for.  Malone, who was hired prior to GM D’Alessandro (which, in the world of sports, always spells doom for head coaches), is a defensive guru.  The Kings, meanwhile, were looking to create a fast-paced offensive juggernaut.  Regardless, this was a bad look for the Kings, as it illustrated a lack of direction in the Kings’ plan, seeing as it would have simply been far less controversial to fire him prior too the season beginning.

Cousins allegedly felt responsible for his mentor’s dismissal.  The Kings had succeeded in once again damaging their already-tainted reputation, in addition to alienating their franchise player.

Despite all of this incompetence, the possibility of Ainge convincing the Kings to trade Cousins is remarkably slim.  There are just too many teams out there with better packages to offer.

So this is merely my plea to Celtics fans: quit talking yourselves into thinking Cousins is coming to Boston. The trade rumors began in 2012 and have continued since.  There’s a reason why none of these rumors have ever amounted into anything; DeMarcus Cousins is just too valuable for the Celtics to acquire. While I’m sure Danny Ainge has contacted the Kings regarding Cousins’ availability, I’m sure every single General Manager in the NBA has, and it would take the Kings front office to make the biggest bone-headed decision in NBA history to trade Cousins to the Celtics.

I pray that I’m jinxing Kings fans by writing all of this and the Celtics will then somehow be able to pull off the impossible and acquire him this offseason. In the meantime, prepare yourself for DeMarcus Cousins rumors all summer long, and I can guarantee you they won’t come true.