The Sacramento Kings stunned the basketball world on Sunday night when the franchise finally decided to follow through on a deal involving DeMarcus Cousins. Since the news surfaced, the stories surrounding the Kings organization and their blockbuster trade have continued to astonish us for all the wrong reasons.
At the outset, it appears that the New Orleans Pelicans got over on the Kings, sending a package of Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, their 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 second-rounder to Sacramento for a one-of-a-kind superstar talent in Cousins, along with Omri Casspi. Meanwhile, the main piece of Sac-Town's haul is Hield, who Kings owner Vivek Ranadive reportedly believes has "Steph Curry potential." However, one look at Buddy's rookie year numbers—8.6 points per game on 39.2 percent shooting from the field—will have you wondering if Ranadive is talking about the two-time MVP or his brother Seth.
On Monday, Kings general manager Vlade Divac discussed the Boogie trade, and made an alarming confession to reporters. After expressing his belief that this was the best time to pull the trigger on a deal because it was "the best offer we had," Vlade was asked why he didn't hold off until a date closer to Thursday's deadline. "Most likely we would get less, because I had a better deal two days ago," Divac said, per ESPN.
Yikes! If you're a Kings fan, that's the last thing you want to hear. While hindsight is always 20/20, organizational mistakes like this one prove the ineptitude of Sacramento's front office. The fact that NBA 2K17 wouldn't even approve this trade is all you need to know about how terrible this deal was.
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