If the Lakers and Sacramento Kings stopped talking about DeMarcus Cousins to take part in the NBA draft, it remains to be seen if that was merely a pause.
A league source tells Forbes.com that the Lakers would still trade newly-drafted D'Angelo Russell for Cousins.
Crazed as it was to even discuss sending such a potential force to a division rival, the Kings did, although with an astronomical asking price: The Lakers' No. 2 pick which became Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and more future picks.
That makes a deal unlikely, unless ride-the-wind-reap-the-whirlwind Sacramento owner Vivek Ranadive changes his mind, again.
Even after drafting Russell, Laker GM Mitch Kupchak suggested his desire for a big player, noting, "You look around this building. You see [retired jersies of Wilt] Chamberlain and you see [Kareem Abdul-] Jabbar and you see Shaquille [O'Neal]. Those are three pretty good centers. There was a center available [Jahlil Okafor] that we did not select....
“You still need quality big men in this league. If any of those players on the wall were available, we would have selected him.”
If such a deal would be a non-starter under ordinary circumstances, these aren't them, but the latest in a series of misadventures by the pratfall-prone Ranadive in two seasons as an NBA owner and, increasingly, laughingstock.
Suggesting the impulse control of an infant, Ranadive fired his first coach, Mike Malone after a season plus 24 games, explaining lamely, if originally, that they needed "a jazz director" to fix their offense which was like a "Sousa marching band."
The jazz director, Tyrone Corbin, went 7-21 and lasted until mid-February. Ranadive then brought in the respected Karl, who had been out of work long enough to ignore all he had heard about Vivek.
Ranadive also made Vlade Divac, a beloved former King with no front office experience, his right-hand man, declaring, "I am counting on Vlade to pull this all together."
If Ranadive was really counting on Vlade to draw fire away from him, it was seen as harmless in Sacramento with Divac thought to be a personal consultant.
Not until season's end when GM Pete D'Allesandro bolted for Denver did the truth become clear, shocking even team employees: Ranadive had put the overmatched Vlade in operational charge, as D'Allesandro's boss.
The debacle then hit the fan. Karl pressed for a Cousins trade. With Cousins aware of it, their enmity broke out on Twitter, with former Karl players joining DeMarcus in references to an unnamed "snake in the grass."
As far as becoming a Laker, Cousins seemed up for it. The Los Angeles Newspaper Group quoted a league source noting, "DeMarcus would not be unhappy if he was moved to the Lakers."
Ranadive announced he had "zero interest" in trading Cousins. Instead, reported ESPN's Chris Broussard, he considered firing Karl, as embarrassing it that would be, and as pricey with Karl's four-year $14 million contract.
All Ranadive has now are bad or unlikely choices: a) try to reconcile Karl and Cousins; b) trade Cousins to the hated division rival Lakers; c) fire Karl.
Of course, if he fires Karl, how long would it be before d) Cousins, who's like an out-of-tune violin string, makes the Kings trade him, too?
Nevertheless, this shouldn't be able to happen... should it?
If trading Cousins would be hard enough, trading him to the Lakers would set Ranadive up for Western Conference infamy as the man who put the local monster back on its feet.
Kupchak, who knows enough not to assume anything, surely took Russell on two bases: 1) He would be a good player for the Lakers, or 2) would bring a good player in trade. Bet on 1).
The smart thing for Ranadive to do is to empower someone Karl to run the team--since someone other than Vivek must--but tell him that even they if they have to trade Cousins, it can't be now and not to That Team.
On the other hand, he's Vivek Ranadive. "Smart" has yet to come into it.
