3. Kings trade Demarcus Cousins, Darren Collison, and Omri Casspi to the Heat for Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, and Justise Winslow
Figuring out a trade that makes Miami better right now isn’t easy. The team is asset-poor, as they are without a first round pick they can trade until at least 2020. (Considering the state of the franchise, they probably shouldn’t be dealing draft picks anyway.)
However, Pat Riley is notorious for his ability to acquire disgruntled superstars out of nowhere. Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, the list of Hall-of-Famers obtained by Riley goes on and on.
Observing the current NBA landscape, there seems to be one guy who fits a similar bill. I presume everyone automatically knows who I’m talking about.
Demarcus Cousins’ situation in Sacramento is so weird/convoluted/volatile that it took a writer as renowned as Kevin Arnovitz an article the length of a short novel to describe it. Even despite the fact that Cousins and the Kings have an absolutely toxic relationship, news broke early this month that they were ready to hand him a $200 million extension this offseason.
The Kings, desperate to be relevant in the NBA landscape, are willing to hamper the future of their franchise by giving a personality as explosive as Cousins’ a massive extension. Is there a chance that if they were given a plausible alternative, they’d at least be willing to consider it?
That’s why I proposed the following: Kings trade Demarcus Cousins, Darren Collison, and Omri Casspi to the Heat for Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, and Justise Winslow
I told you things would get weird. The Kings acquire three guys locked up long-term, and Miami gets its superstar, plus two other solid players to help with a playoff push.
Because the Heat lack assets, the only way they could convince Sacramento to go through with a deal is by offering up two young guys full of potential. The Kings would get younger, while adding an elite rim protector in Whiteside, a really good sixth man in Johnson, and a do-everything forward in Winslow.
While Miami gets a legitimate star to build around, a wing who can score a bit and defend in Omri Casspi, and a decent backup point guard in Darren Collison. The latter two are on the last year’s of their deals, so if they prove to not be a good fit with coach Erik Spoelstra, it doesn’t matter because they’ll be gone this summer anyways.
Look, it’s hard to speculate about whether a team would deal a talent like Cousins. But if they did go through with this trade, it would provide them with some much-needed stability. For a franchise so often in the news for the wrong reasons, stability would be warmly welcomed.
Furthermore, getting rid of a ball-dominant guard like Collison gives Sacramento the freedom to give rookie combo guard Malachi Richardson (who’s been coming on of late) more playing time.
The all-knowing trade machine says this swap makes the Heat one win better, and the Kings three losses worse. (It may be in the best of interest of the Kings to tank anyways. Their 2017 first rounder is top-ten protected. If it falls anywhere after that, it belongs to the Bulls. Just another thing to keep in mind.)