Boston Celtics: 10 Potential Star Trade Targets

6. DeMarcus Cousins

A few weeks ago, it sounded like signing DeMarcus Cousins to a $200 million-plus contract extension was inevitable for the Sacramento Kings.

However, with the front office’s inability to assemble a playoff team around him, not to mention Boogie’s reputation as a head case and recent trade rumors involving the star big man, it would make sense for Sacramento to jumpstart a much-needed rebuild by cashing in on the team’s most valuable asset for a king’s ransom.

If that winds up being the case, Boston is the team that would be able to offer one of the best trade packages.

In this deal, Smart, Crowder, Jaylen Brown and Brooklyn’s 2017 first-rounder would represent an influx of young talent to build on for the future. Smart would finally solve Sacramento’s need for a long-term point guard, Crowder is in his prime, Brown has a ton of upside on the wing and there’d be another chance to draft a franchise star with the Nets pick.

Meanwhile, Boston would be getting a franchise superstar at the center spot — someone who could play alongside Horford, form a dynamic duo with his former teammate Isaiah Thomas and he’d probably be interested in re-signing with Boston since he’d finally be playing for a contender.

If the Kings are smart though, they’d push for that same trade package, only with Brooklyn’s 2018 first-rounder thrown in for good measure.

However, if Sacramento can re-sign Boogie to an extension before he hits free agency in 2018, that might be preferable to dealing away quite possibly the best individual center in the NBA. Even if they don’t make the playoffs this season or next, retaining Cousins gives the Kings more possibilities to do so in the future since he’s only 26.

Boston may also worry about wrecking the team’s juju since Cousins isn’t the NBA’s most amiable personality. He and Thomas didn’t work together in Sacramento, and Boogie — talented though he may be — might not be the winning trade Ainge is looking to make.