How does Sacramento refuse this package?

[Fireworks_Boom!]

To Boston:
DeMarcus Cousins
Rudy Gay

To Sacramento:
Amir Johnson
Tyler Zeller
Jae Crowder
Marcus Smart
Brooklyn 2017
Brooklyn 2018

They get 3 lottery players (Smart + 2 Brooklyn Picks), a serviceable center (Zeller), a veteran big on an expiring contract (Johnson) and a solid, cost-controlled 6th man (Jae Crowder).

Sure it is a tough pill to swallow but the value and weight of draft picks has been on the down the last several years. Sacramento yields 4 players with which to build around and 2 they can take a flyer on to see if they are part of the future.

[PaulAllen]

Zeller is garbage and they are already stuffed with too many centers...
Johnson is a backup who should earn 15 minutes a game..
Crowder is a good role player... dont get it twisted
As for the picks no one knows ... 1. Nets are not playing as bad as most thought. 2. Its a lottery , you dont know what your getting until June.. Its going to cost the Celtics just to get Cousins ..

For Cousins only 2 Nets picks, and a combo of two out of the three Bradley, Brown, and or Crowder.

They dont want garbage in return ... It will be a bidding war

[Csfan1984]

They would hope for a better deal from another team but I don't think that they refuse that offer if it's best one they get.

[PhoSita]

The Kings haven't made the playoffs since I was a junior in high school.  They just moved into a new, expensive arena in downtown Sac.

If they're dumping Cousins, they have to get more present value in return.  The bulk of the package can't be draft picks.

[Vermont Green]

The Kings haven't made the playoffs since I was a junior in high school.  They just moved into a new, expensive arena in downtown Sac.

If they're dumping Cousins, they have to get more present value in return.  The bulk of the package can't be draft picks.

Is your supposition that SAC would be more interested in say Jaylen Brown than a Nets pick?  I agree that Zeller, Johnson, and even Crowder are not all that attractive to a team like SAC but something has to go back.

So are you saying Smart, Brown, BKN 2018 plus Johnson and ... (make the $$$ work) would be more likely to be accepted by them?

I like Smart and Brown but if you want Cousins, this is probably what you need to give up (no interest in including Rudy Gay, let them trade him to someone else).  With that we could role out:

Cousins
Horford
Crowder
Bradley
Thomas

and still have a bench of (I am assuming Zeller goes out for $$ purposes):

Rozier
Green
Young
Olynyk
Jerebko
Mickey

Not a great bench but a pretty good looking starting 5.  Win now baby!

[Fireworks_Boom!]

In the outlined package, they get three starting players immediately in Amir Johnson, Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder. You can argue that all of theses players better coming off the bench but they have all started for our playoff contending team.

I think it is important we retain at least one of three players out of Avery Bradley, Marcus smart and J Crowder. But if we must include them that is leverage for us to swap Rudy Gay for Casspi or McLemore.

[PhoSita]

The Kings haven't made the playoffs since I was a junior in high school.  They just moved into a new, expensive arena in downtown Sac.

If they're dumping Cousins, they have to get more present value in return.  The bulk of the package can't be draft picks.

Is your supposition that SAC would be more interested in say Jaylen Brown than a Nets pick?  I agree that Zeller, Johnson, and even Crowder are not all that attractive to a team like SAC but something has to go back.

If I were Sac, I would ask for AB, Crowder, and Smart/Rozier at a minimum.  But I'd probably try to snag a handful of younger but already somewhat proven assets from another team first.

[Fireworks_Boom!]

Sacramento is not trading Cousins to improve the team short term. They are blowing it up and going young.

Sacramento needs 2 things in trading Cousins:
1. Lottery Draft Picks to fuel youth movement.
2. Long term cost-controlled players that can help them as they build over a period of years. 

I think the Celtics are best positioned to hit on these 2 objectives.

Crowder and Smart are on cost-controlled contracts through 2020 and key players that could start their rebuild. The Brooklyn picks will be lottery picks in the next 2 drafts.

Amir Johnson in my proposed trade above accelerates their freeing up of cap space for the hold on Rudy Gay's contract by 1 year.

If you really analyze the trade, it is a very attractive package from their standpoint. They could have a path to contention in 3 years by having the cap space to sign a couple max players and a team built on:

Arron Afflalo
Marcus Smart
Jae Crowder
Ben McLemore
Omri Casspi
Willie Cauley-Stein

[liam]

If the Kings were going to get anything close to this the deal would be done. You don't gut the team for a malcontent, no matter how talented. You only empty the cupboards for a super star, but one without all the baggage that comes with DC. He's a big risk.

[PhoSita]

Sacramento is not trading Cousins to improve the team short term. They are blowing it up and going young.

Based on what, though?  Do we have any indication that's what Vlade intends to do, or what Vivek wants him to do?

We can't will other teams to have the priorities we want them to have.

Sac is a small market that hasn't been respectable in a decade, basically.  If they "blow it up and go young" (again) they're looking at extending that streak to 15 years or more.

I don't think any Celtics fans really know what it must be like to have a home team that hasn't even made the playoffs in that amount of time.  The "doldrums" years for the Celts still featured playoff appearances every few years.

[LarBrd33]

To Boston:
DeMarcus Cousins
Rudy Gay

To Sacramento:
Amir Johnson
Tyler Zeller
Jae Crowder
Marcus Smart
Brooklyn 2017
Brooklyn 2018

They get 3 lottery players (Smart + 2 Brooklyn Picks), a serviceable center (Zeller), a veteran big on an expiring contract (Johnson) and a solid, cost-controlled 6th man (Jae Crowder).

Sure it is a tough pill to swallow but the value and weight of draft picks has been on the down the last several years. Sacramento yields 4 players with which to build around and 2 they can take a flyer on to see if they are part of the future.

Assuming they decide to mover Cousins, they'd refuse it if another team can beat it.  Someone suggested Brown + Smart + Both Brooklyn picks for Cousins the other day.  Interesting offer. Two unproven prospects and and questionable draft picks is undeniably a nice package, but there's still a chance Smart and Brown end up long-term bench warmers... still a chance the Brooklyn picks end up duds... and if another team such as the Lakers, Sixers, Nuggets, Wolves, Magic, etc is willing to offer more desirable prospects/picks, maybe they'd rather do that.   Say for instance the Nuggets offered a package built around Nurkic, perhaps they'd prefer that.

You also can't rule out the possibility that the Kings would prefer established talent in return.  In which case, maybe a package built around DeAndre Jordan would trump any of our mystery assets.    You just never know.

[alldaboston]

Sacramento is not trading Cousins to improve the team short term. They are blowing it up and going young.

Based on what, though?  Do we have any indication that's what Vlade intends to do, or what Vivek wants him to do?

if their management was smart, they would decide to rebuild IF they decided to trade cousins. but they're not smart. the whole franchise is a big mess. i could honestly see them try to (falsely) stay competitive even after trading Cousins, maybe win 30 games if theyre lucky. They don't seem to be willing to start the rebuild over. It would make some sense, imo, if they were able to get a few good prospects or a pick or something. would be the start of a new era in Kings history, in a new arena, with new young players.

but the kings aren't smart. and i think they'll just continue to be a big mess even after they trade Cousins (if they trade him, that is)

[IDreamCeltics]

Sacramento's not accepting any package that doesn't include a star for Boogie, which makes sense if Boogie is as good as people on this board seem to think he is. 

NBA GM'ing 101 is don't trade a top 10 player for anything other than another top 10 player or you'll never get a job as a GM again (see Kevin McHale).







 

[DefenseWinsChamps]

They don't, because Boston never offers that much.

[Irish Stew]

To Boston:
DeMarcus Cousins
Rudy Gay

To Sacramento:
Amir Johnson
Tyler Zeller
Jae Crowder
Marcus Smart
Brooklyn 2017
Brooklyn 2018

They get 3 lottery players (Smart + 2 Brooklyn Picks), a serviceable center (Zeller), a veteran big on an expiring contract (Johnson) and a solid, cost-controlled 6th man (Jae Crowder).

Sure it is a tough pill to swallow but the value and weight of draft picks has been on the down the last several years. Sacramento yields 4 players with which to build around and 2 they can take a flyer on to see if they are part of the future.

I think that you are in the general ballpark of a fair trade for both teams but I view Johnson and Zeller as little more than expiring contracts salary filler (Zeller is nonguaranteed next year). Crowder and Smart make sense for them since they are under long term team control and they would bring a much needed change to the culture of that team. Bradley wouldn't make sense because he would probably walk at the end of 2017-2018. Whether SAC realizes that a good Cousins trade is in their long term interest and whether Ainge will do a trade that is fair and not one-sided are the real questions.