The Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Los Angeles Lakers would trade No. 2 pick D'Angelo Russell "tomorrow," if that alone would complete a deal for Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.
This process will take years, not a year.
You shortcut it at your peril, even if the Lakers were willing to trade their No. 2 pick for Sacramento’s even-higher-maintenance-than-Dwight-Howard DeMarcus Cousins ... and would send Russell up there tomorrow if that would do it, a league source told me.
Not that it’s likely to happen, either.
Source: If that turnaround is still a ways off, at least Lakers have started.
Of course that's not going to happen, because first you have to make the salaries work, and that's not possible without sending more back from the Lakers. Secondly, the Kings are going to want more -- way more -- for Cousins, and while their leverage has been obliterated thanks to constant leaks, work from Cousins camp, and general disarray they've been under for months/years/a decade, they still have Cousins under contract for three years with no real impetus to move him unless the deal is right.
So why does this matter if it's not going to happen? It shows that while the Lakers love Russell and believe he'll be a star -- that's why they picked him at No. 2 -- they're still willing to move on if it means immediate star improvement. Part of this is risk/reward. Cousins is a megastar-capable player right now, Russell has the potential to be one. Will he be better than Cousins? He might, he might not. And that uncertainty makes Cousins more valuable right now.
Honestly, if the Kings can get Russell, Julius Randle and a future pick, they should probably pull the trigger. A happy and fun young core with No. 6 pick Willie Cauley-Stein and those two has a lot of promise and would allow them to build from the ground up vs. trying to sell Cousins on buying back in after this clown show.
But for Russell straight up? No way, no how. It does show that as much as the Lakers value Russell as their new star, they may value the idea of getting Cousins and competing right away far more.
The Lakers have also been linked to interest from free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.
