When Vlade traded Boogie at the all-star weekend, people were all over him cause he decided not to wait till the trade deadline.
Different situation, I think - they traded him to get him out of their locker room, so taking action immediately may have been a priority. Then, too, it may have occurred to them that trading him sooner meant fewer wins, and therefore a better chance at a top pick.
They traded him 4 days prior to the deadline. The NBA had no games scheduled for those 4 days.
Cousins agent was making the deals worse by threatening teams interested that he wouldn't re-sign, and New Orleans dropped another first from the deal because of that. The Kings aren't managed by dunces
What about when they traded Isaiah Thomas to the Suns for a traded player exception and the rights to Alex Oriakhi? Were they managed by dunces back then or not?
What about when they traded Nik Stauskas + Carl Landry + Jason Thompson + 2019 unprotected first round pick + two pick swap options for the rights to Arturas Gudaitis + Luka Mitrovic + future second round pick?
What about when they traded Omri Casspi and a protected first to the Cavs for JJ Hickson?
What about when they traded the 7th pick in the 2011 draft (Bismack Biyombo) + Beno Udrih for the 10th pick (Jimmer Fredette) + John Salmons?
I could go on and on and on....
Anyway, there were teams willing to trade for Boogie regardless of his contract situation. Off the top of my head : the Pelicans, the Magic and the Lakers.
case for the Pelicans :
- Dell Demps (their GM) had nothing to lose cause according to rumors he was in danger of getting fired.
- They already had AD.
- Boogie is from Mobile, Alabama, just a two-hour drive from New Orleans.
- Both Boogie and AD played college basketball for the University of Kentucky.
case for the Magic :
Same GM situation with the Pelicans. Rob Hennigan was about to get fired and he was trying to save his job (for what it's worth, he got fired on April 13)
case for the Lakers :
They are the Lakers. No fear of losing Boogie in free agency.