Being one of the centers of the trade talks among all big men in the NBA, DeMarcus Cousins just made his stock much higher as he added three-point shooting to his arsenal.
Clearing the smoke of the swirling trade offers to the US olympian, Sacramento Kings' general manager and legend Vlade Divac told ESPN that they have no intention of giving Cousins away. In addition, he even wanted the 26-year old former Kentucky Wildcat to stay in his team for a long time.
The Kings' Serbian GM made the statement after last week's rumors that the Phoenix Suns is interested in getting the services of the Mobile, Alabama native in exchange for center Alex Len, TJ Warren and even their first round picks.
"We're not trading DeMarcus," the FIBA Hall of Fame inductee of 2010 stated. "We hope he's here for a long time."
Cousins, who has just been slapped with a one-game suspension following his accumulation of 16th technical after today's 112-107 loss to the Chicago Bulls, is averaging 27.9 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per outing and 4.7 assists this season.
As a strong support to Divac's statements, SB Nation reported that Cousins was already offered and is planning to sign a $200 USD contract extension. The fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft has won a gold medal playing for the USA Men's Team at the Rio Olympics last year.
With the Kings' plan of signing him an extension, that will keep the 6-foot-11 Cousins with the team until 2018 and would fall under the new Designated Player provision. The ruling will make him ineligible from any trade transactions within the first year of his signing.
Sacramento is currently sitting in the 11th spot with a 20-32 record.
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