DMC wants Trade or Max

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This isn't fantasy basketball. There's something called chemistry. Look at the Spurs and Heat and then look at other teams like the Knicks. Guys have to able to sacrifice a little bit of their stats for the belief of the team. Do you see Cousins ever doing that? With Wittman as coach? Why go backwards? Let's go forward. Noel or Porter. Don't give up the third pick.

I do see the sacrifice part.

I would also keep the pick and wait for a better Cousins deal

[verbal8]

Too bad Sacramento doesn't have an NFL team, then Kirk cousins could be traded their for DMC coming here.

If stern hates the clippers/celtics deal. Imagine his head exploding on a trade across sports.

[Deeptu McPullup]

I'm late to the discussion here.

Cousins isn't getting the max. And frankly I don't want him if he wants the max. He's done nothing to earn it. You would be basically rewarding his terrible behavior and a team wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he continues to act up.

You don't give a player a max contract and hope they grow up.

I do believe that it will be in someone's interest to pay Cousins the Max; Hibbert level max, so a bit over 4 years @ $58 million (Cap inflation).

If you work under the premise that a real superstar is worth the max, it sounds crazy and off, but the thing is that the market rate of those guys is suppressed, which dilutes the whole premise of what the max is. Under a real free market, the bidding on Bron Bron or Durant would creep up into the $40-50 million dollar range.

But somebody will conclude, IMO correctly, that it's a better idea to give Cousins a contract starting at $14 million than to bring in Dunleavy, Stephenson & Vasquez at the same money.

That it might not be wise to give Cousins $58 million over 4 years is an idea that I'm open to, however.

Cousins is as close to a 20/10 big man this league has, draws fouls, passes extremely well, plays defense, rebounds and has improved steadily across the board all 3 seasons. The only on-court issues would be that he's inefficient and fouls too much. I'd say he's the big-man equivalent of Wall. The holes in his game are there but he's clearly working on it, and what he does well in he does very well (Rebounding).

I don't think he's necessarily max-money level but I don't think he's as bad/cancerous as people make him out to be.

I only disagree with the bolded and am comfortable with the rest of it, but Cousins right now is not a guy who contributed on the defensive end of the floor. He makes great defensive plays at times, but he's a net negative in aggregate at this point and my eyes saw him get lost on a number of plays.

Factually:

The Kings have had a DRTG of 109 or worse in each of Cousins' 3 years with 29th placed finishes in the 2011-12 & 2012-13 seasons.

In 2013, opponents converted a league high 70% of the FGAs at the rim and have done poorly by this metric in all three years with Cousins. They gave up 40.8 points in the paint last year, bad for 28th in the league, with their ranking declining there in each of the last two seasons.

http://www.hoopdata.com/oteamshotlocs.a ... 13&type=pg
http://www.hoopdata.com/oteamshotlocs.a ... 13&type=pg

The Kings have also been an absolutely terrible defensive rebounding team in the last two seasons; not sure how much we want to blame Cousins for that, but as the center, he has responsibilities beyond just getting the rebound (they have rebounded better with him on the floor than without him, but not good even with him). Not sure if it's an issue or not, but it at least needs addressing.

That said, I agree with the gist of your post and am open to acquiring him so long as the behavioral concerns aren't worse than we've heard (he's first team all-pouty is what I know for sure). The on court issues are probably correctable and he has the tools to be a good defensive player. In fairness to DeMarcus, not many young centers are actually plus team defenders and Nate's breakdown of his offensive efficiency is about where I'm at too (ie. fixable and trending upwards).

So, I'm on the fence on a DeMarcus trade. It's high risk, high reward and I'm not really a passionate advocate of either doing it or not doing it. There's definitely a host of other moves that I would consider to be a worse uses of the 3rd pick and few options with more upside. It's a move that would be decisive one way or another.

[barelyawake]

The question management has to answer is how do we get a shot at a possible, top-ten big -- if it's not Cousins. If there is an answer, I'm listening. If the answer is we don't need one, I'm not listening. Cousins isn't perfect. But, what is the alternative? With Nene/Cousins, we only need a shutdown-defensive, backup center/PF (which are possible to draft late -- and there's always the chance Seraphin develops). We'd also need a true shutdown SF defender -- also possible to acquire or draft late. We need a star big. Management should know that and should be continually reminded of that. If they don't see one in this draft at three, then what's the plan (if not Cousins)?

[montestewart]

Under a real free market, the bidding on Bron Bron or Durant would creep up into the $40-50 million dollar range.

Under a real free market, the NBA wouldn't be subsidized by taxpayer financed arenas. That might impact salaries quite a bit.

[dangermouse]

DMC is a great passer out of the post, hitting shooters and cutters.

Imagine him and Nene together...

[TGW]

Imagine him and Nene together...

The only thing I imagine is Nene yelling and screaming at the big oaf in the huddle to get his defensive assignments correct and get back on defense when he doesn't get the ball.

There's professionalism, unprofessionalism, and then Demarcus Cousins. Any team that hitches their wagon to this a$$ is going to get burned...just like the Kings are now.

[nate33]

Imagine him and Nene together...

The only thing I imagine is Nene yelling and screaming at the big oaf in the huddle to get his defensive assignments correct and get back on defense when he doesn't get the ball.

I do think there will be a fair amount of this, but that's precisely why we are one of the few teams that could harness Cousins and get him to be a great player. How many teams have a guy who is as hard-working and knowledgeable as Nene who also have the physical stature to square up with Cousins without backing down?

[TGW]

Imagine him and Nene together...

The only thing I imagine is Nene yelling and screaming at the big oaf in the huddle to get his defensive assignments correct and get back on defense when he doesn't get the ball.

I do think there will be a fair amount of this, but that's precisely why we are one of the few teams that could harness Cousins and get him to be a great player. How many teams have a guy who is as hard-working and knowledgeable as Nene who also have the physical stature to square up with Cousins without backing down?

Sorry nate, but you can't be serious. What track record do the Wizards have of harnessing anyone? They can't even get a marginal player like Vesley to STFU during the offseason. All of Ernie's kids regressed last season so I don't believe the Wizards are able to develop anyone into a great player at this stage, let alone the biggest locker room cancer in this league.

There is not one single shred of evidence to suggest that this team would harness or contain Cousins...if anything, there's plenty of evidence to suggest the opposite.

[pancakes3]

Oh, and winning cures all. If we can win, Cousins will learn. Also with age naturally comes maturity. Tyson Chandler was no boy scout when he first came in. Rasheed Wallace definitely wasn't. Headcase or not, talent is talent in the NBA.

[Dat2U]

Imagine him and Nene together...

The only thing I imagine is Nene yelling and screaming at the big oaf in the huddle to get his defensive assignments correct and get back on defense when he doesn't get the ball.

I do think there will be a fair amount of this, but that's precisely why we are one of the few teams that could harness Cousins and get him to be a great player. How many teams have a guy who is as hard-working and knowledgeable as Nene who also have the physical stature to square up with Cousins without backing down?

More than likely the vets will throw the kids under the bus... that's a Wizards tradition.

Look at how much Nene did for Seraphin.

Or maybe Ernie will piss the entire team off and create resentment throughout as he happily gives Cousins the max and coddles him like he's done his other "stars" in the past.

[Ruzious]

I don't think Nene threw Seraphin under the bus. I do think he got frustrated with him - probably like everyone associated with the team. Remember, the previous season, Nene got credit for turning Seraphin around. Nene brought the horse to water, but forcing him to drink was something beyond his powers.

[dobrojim]

Cousins isn't getting the max. And frankly I don't want him if he wants the max. He's done nothing to earn it. You would be basically rewarding his terrible behavior and a team wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he continues to act up.

You don't give a player a max contract and hope they grow up.

Hell, most here didn't even want to give Wall max until he proved it. No way you do it for Cousins.

I think Cousins is a player to keep on the radar and one day, he will likely be a very good player. With Cousins, its all going to come down to timing.

I wouldn't do the start this off season, but it might be something to consider at the trade deadline if they can do a sign and trade. Then you know what you are committing too.

I agree with all this. Also, get him for what McGee received, much less than the max--if possible.

Tell DMC he needs to be a team guy like James and Bosh when they joined the Heat. Both took a pay cut. DMC needs to come correct not at all IMO. He's going to make five times more, at least, than his rookie deal $. Why be greedy or egotistical and insist on max when he's IMO not there, yet?

Get the guy for less than Okafor or Nene money but at least McGee money.

I could be mistaken but I thought Bosh actually got the highest contract of MIA's big 3.

[Ruzious]

Jim, Bosh and James have the same contract numbers, while Wade is roughly 3 to 400,000 a year less than them.

But again, it's important - when comparing contracts of their big 3 to potential max deals for Wall and Cousins, the big 3's are going to stay considerably higher - due to years of service.

[rockymac52]

I know I'm late to the party here, but I have a few thoughts on the matter that I'd like to share.

1. No matter what you think of Cousins, DO NOT trade the 3rd pick for him. Even if the Kings were ready to trade Cousins (which I don't necessarily think is the case), this would be overkill. Yes, Cousins might be better than whoever we take at 3, both in the present and in the future. However, that's far from guaranteed to be the case, and even if it's true, the bigger issue is that we don't need to give up the 3rd pick to acquire Cousins.

2. I fully expect the Kings to try to work things out with the new staff and Cousins. I don't think they'll offer him a max extension prior to the October deadline, and it sounds like Cousins is prepared to demand a trade and/or walk if he isn't given the max extension.

3. If the Kings hold onto Cousins for now, but decide to part ways with him at the trade deadline, then the price it will take to acquire him will be substantially less than it is at the moment. Assuming that the main piece involved in a Cousins trade this summer would be the 3rd pick, I think it's pretty safe to say that the price of acquiring Cousins via trade will be significantly less than that by the trade deadline. It's highly unlikely any team that was in the mix for a top 8 pick or so would want to give that up, especially in a stacked draft class, for a malcontent underachiever who's due for a huge payday the next season. It's also unlikely that the Wizards are bad enough to be in the running for the 3rd pick or so, barring a lottery miracle.

Furthermore, at that point, it would be clear to the entire league that the Kings were done with Cousins, and that they were just trying to get SOMETHING in return for him while they still could, instead of losing him for nothing as a free agent a few months later. As a result, the Kings would have very little leverage in the trade negotiations, and teams could probably trade for Cousins at a significant discount. Trading for Cousins would be a 2 month rental of his current skills and the right to match any offer sheet he signs with another team that summer. I doubt any team would seriously consider trading for a 2 month rental of Cousins, unless they intended to re-sign him long-term. Now, if another team traded for Cousins at the deadline, they'd have the inside track to re-signing him, and they'd be able to match any offer, so that could be bad news for us if we didn't trade for him but wanted to sign him as a free agent. The odds would be against us.

Or, we could take the initiative and trade for Cousins. I assume that our 2014 1st round pick would have to be included, in addition to perhaps Ariza and his expiring contract, and we might have to take on a bad contract of theirs (Salmons?). Already that's a much better deal than any one involving the 2013 3rd pick. It's pretty fair value, especially if we were committed to matching any offer for Cousins, including a max deal. That way we'd be guaranteed to keep Cousins long-term, and if luck's on our side, we might be able to sign him for a little bit less than the max as well.

4. It's a little riskier, but I think our best option might be to just wait it out and try to sign Cousins outright as a free agent. It would probably have to be for a max deal in order for him to agree to sign with us, while simultaneously scaring his original team away from matching our offer. Maybe we'd prefer to get him for $11 or $12 million a year, especially considering his attitude issues, lack of defense, and overall inefficiency, but the reality is that if we want to acquire a young, very promising, potentially great big man, unless we draft him with a future pick, it's going to cost us a pretty penny. That's why I'm fine with paying Cousins the max, even if there are some red flags.

If the Kings choose not to trade him, or if they're unable to find a suitable trade partner at the deadline, then we'd have a very good shot at signing Cousins. A few other teams might offer him the max as well, but I'm willing to bet our roster makeup looks a lot better than those other teams with plenty of cap space next year. And of course, it's always possible that him and Wall still get along great, and really want to play together, giving us a big advantage in signing him (although it's just as possible that they may not get along, making this entire post/discussion moot).

If the Kings were able to trade him to another team at the deadline, it's assume that that team would want to re-sign him long-term, so as long as he liked his 2 months there, he'd probably be a good bet to re-sign with that new team. This is where the risk lies. If this is what happens, then we might miss out on Cousins because we didn't want to part with any assets at the deadline, as we essentially called the Kings' bluff. If there are other max-worthy big men available on the open market (Monroe or Sanders, maybe?) then this might not be that big of an issue, as we can simply shift our focus elsewhere. However, it's very possible that most of the other good big men are extended by their teams and never reach free agency, leaving us with a big pile of cap space and no one to spend it on. That would be a little depressing, but at the same time, we wouldn't be any worse off than we already are.

If we decide to go this riskier route, hoping that we can sign Cousins outright as a free agent, and it works out in our favor, allowing us to sign him to a max or near max deal, then we're in business. Not only would we have Cousins on board at that point, but we'd still have our 2014 1st round pick to add to the roster (or trade).


Here's a scenario that I could see:

1. Draft Otto Porter at 3
2. Re-sign Webster for $11-12 million over 3 years (Danny Green contract size)
3. Extend Wall for the max, with a contract starting at $13.7 million in year 1
4. Come summer 2014, renounce whoever you have to between the likes of Ariza, Okafor, Seraphin, Booker, etc.
5. With the 2014 1st rounder, let's say the 15th pick, select a PF or C
6. Sign Cousins to a max contract for the same amount as Wall's
7. Sign Patrick Patterson with the remaining $7.4 million (lower salary if possible or MLE)
8. Sign Ramon Sessions with the MLE (or the $7.4 million in salary cap space if Patterson can be signed with the MLE)


PG: Wall/Sessions
SG: Beal
SF: Porter/Webster
PF: Patterson/Nene/2014 1st
C: Cousins

That's a real solid lineup with a main rotation of 8-9 guys, depending on whether the 2014 1st round pick is ready to contribute immediately or not. Nene would probably get a few more minutes than Patterson, I just have him starting because I think he stretches the floor better and would fit in well with the other starters, but that's not important. Then fill out the roster by signing (or drafting with 2nd round picks) a 3rd PG, a third string C, and a couple third string wings. These guys are only for depth at the end of the bench, mostly in case of injury. Nene would play some backup C minutes, or they could go to the 2014 1st round pick if he's capable of playing C. Sessions and Webster would split the backup SG minutes.

I think that team has a lot of potential. It's a great collection of young prospects, up and coming stars, and quality veterans. It also has a good mix of unique skills, giving us a lot of interchangeable parts that can be used in certain situations to maximize our lineup's productivity.

Perhaps most of all, I think that team is easily attainable.

We'll be able to draft Porter and re-sign Webster fairly easily. I think we'll be able to sign Cousins as a free agent if we're willing to offer him the max. Or we could trade for him at the deadline, just to be safe (although that would likely mean losing the 2014 1st, which is less than ideal, but maybe worth it). Then we have $7.4 million in cap room and the $5 million MLE, and Patterson and Sessions should each cost less than $7.4 million, possibly a lot less. Depending on which player has a higher value on the open market, we can spend the cap space on the more expensive guy, and the MLE on the less expensive guy. I think it's very reasonable to sign either player with $7.4 million. It's also very reasonable to be able to sign the other for the MLE. In the event that either of these players didn't want to come to DC, or had slightly better offers, then we could turn to several other replacements at those positions. We should be able to add a quality combo guard for $7.4 million a year, and the MLE should get us a quality big man.


I'm still not completely sold on Cousins as a player, and many of the red flags concern me, but I'm very interested to say the least, and I think these are a series of very realistic moves that we could make to transform this team into a real contender next summer. Plus, it's always fun to get Wall, Cousins, and Patterson back on the same team again (not that their college experience will actually make them any better as teammates in the NBA). We could take that Kentucky team one step further and go after Eric Bledsoe instead of Ramon Sessions, money permitting. However, we might be a few million bucks short for that to happen, and Bledsoe might prefer to go somewhere where he can start at PG instead of being a combo guard off the bench. EDIT: Just wanted to add that we'd also have a very solid collection of assets in the event that a star player demanded a trade or was on the block (think Kevin Love or LaMarcus Aldridge).

Thoughts?

[Benjammin]

^ I don't believe you get to use all of your cap room and then the MLE. The MLE is if you're over the cap already; hence the word exception. It's not a big deal as I'm not that excited about Sessions.

Cousins is the classic high risk, high reward type of guy. Realistically, it's more likely to get both Patterson and Cousins if you trade for them at the deadline (or before) and have their restricted free agency and Bird rights.

[rockymac52]

^ I don't believe you get to use all of your cap room and then the MLE. The MLE is if you're over the cap already; hence the word exception. It's not a big deal as I'm not that excited about Sessions.

Cousins is the classic high risk, high reward type of guy. Realistically, it's more likely to get both Patterson and Cousins if you trade for them at the deadline (or before) and have their restricted free agency and Bird rights.

Ah, I think you're right about the MLE, good catch. I wasn't very high on Sessions either. In that case, we'd have the room MLE and BAE, both of which are about $2-2.5 million. If you want to spend that on a backup PG, we're probably looking at the likes of AJ Price once again, maybe a slight upgrade. Or we could try and split the $7.4 in cap space between a backup PG/combo guard and a big man.

The problem with trading for Cousins and Patterson is that we'd be losing assets. I'd have to look at how the numbers break down, but I assume we'd be sending out Ariza or Okafor in a trade, which is fine at that point, because neither player would be brought back if we had Cousins and Patterson instead. We'd also probably lose the 2014 1st, for starters. I dunno, I think I might be more inclined to be patient and see who reaches free agency and deal with it then. Patterson is nice, but he's very replaceable with other FA options. Cousins is obviously a bit more coveted, so I'd be more open to a trade with him.

[nate33]

^ I don't believe you get to use all of your cap room and then the MLE. The MLE is if you're over the cap already; hence the word exception. It's not a big deal as I'm not that excited about Sessions.

Cousins is the classic high risk, high reward type of guy. Realistically, it's more likely to get both Patterson and Cousins if you trade for them at the deadline (or before) and have their restricted free agency and Bird rights.

Ah, I think you're right about the MLE, good catch. I wasn't very high on Sessions either. In that case, we'd have the room MLE and BAE, both of which are about $2-2.5 million.

Nope. The MLE and BAE count against the cap. In order to have the cap room to sign Cousins, we have to first relinquish the MLE and BAE. Once we relinquish them to sign Cousins, we can't turn around and unrelinquish them to sign more players.

After using all our cap room on Cousins, Patterson, etc. we'd have only vet minimum exceptions.

[rockymac52]

^ I don't believe you get to use all of your cap room and then the MLE. The MLE is if you're over the cap already; hence the word exception. It's not a big deal as I'm not that excited about Sessions.

Cousins is the classic high risk, high reward type of guy. Realistically, it's more likely to get both Patterson and Cousins if you trade for them at the deadline (or before) and have their restricted free agency and Bird rights.

Ah, I think you're right about the MLE, good catch. I wasn't very high on Sessions either. In that case, we'd have the room MLE and BAE, both of which are about $2-2.5 million.

Nope. The MLE and BAE count against the cap. In order to have the cap room to sign Cousins, we have to first relinquish the MLE and BAE. Once we relinquish them to sign Cousins, we can't turn around and unrelinquish them to sign more players.

After using all our cap room on Cousins, Patterson, etc. we'd have only vet minimum exceptions.

What about the room exception, or whatever that's called? Wouldn't that apply here?

[nate33]

Ah, I think you're right about the MLE, good catch. I wasn't very high on Sessions either. In that case, we'd have the room MLE and BAE, both of which are about $2-2.5 million.

Nope. The MLE and BAE count against the cap. In order to have the cap room to sign Cousins, we have to first relinquish the MLE and BAE. Once we relinquish them to sign Cousins, we can't turn around and unrelinquish them to sign more players.

After using all our cap room on Cousins, Patterson, etc. we'd have only vet minimum exceptions.

What about the room exception, or whatever that's called? Wouldn't that apply here?

No. That's just a mini-sized version of the normal MLE that luxtax paying teams can utilized. (Luxtax teams can't utilize the full MLE.) It still has the same restrictions as the MLE.