General manager Danny Ainge has the luxury of four picks in next year’s draft, some good young talent that could be used in a trade, and one of the few teams with room under the salary cap to add a big-name player. With a slow start, plenty of speculation has surfaced on social media on potential moves. And with news out of Sacramento that DeMarcus Cousins is back on the trading block, rumors of his potential landing spot are heating up.
Ainge has no issues moving a couple quality young talent and a future draft pick or two with the hopes of landing an All Star caliber player. Cousins would be a great fit in ‘bean town’ and would give this squad one of the most formidable front courts in the league.
The 26-year-old would move Horford to power forward, not only making it difficult for other teams around the league to match up against the two big men, it would also give the back court players in Boston more room to operate on the outside, opening up the three-point shot and allowing the coaching staff to use the added depth to an advantage few other sides would have in the league.
It was reported this week that a move could happen soon and not at the NBA trade deadline. Despite the shortlist of franchises the big man could be moved too, it doesn’t mean Sacramento won’t get much in return.
Marcus Smart, rookie Jaylen Brown, backup center Kelly Olynyk, and Terry Rozier could all be packaged, along with a first and second round pick in 2017 to acquire Cousins and while on paper it might seem difficult to make so many roster changes during the year, it’s not often you can add a player that scores 20+ points and grabs 10+ rebounds and can change the game on both ends of the court.