Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive doesn’t want to part ways with star center DeMarcus Cousins, according to Jackie MacMullan of CSN Northeast:

I asked about Cousins just recently again, and Vivek Ranadive, the owner of the Sacramento Kings, does not want to trade DeMarcus Cousins. And so as long as that’s the case, all this talk is just that. It’s talk.

In his most recent podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe had the following to say on Cousins’ future with the Kings:

I’ve had a couple of guys from other teams tell me they’re hearing the Kings are starting to get sick of Cousins. Whatever that means. I mean no one knows who’s making the decisions from the ownership level, not who’s making the decisions, but there’s just so many voices among ownership. They have a million minority owners. Vlade [Divac] and Ken Catanella.

Cousins has been the subject of several trade rumors the past couple of years with the Kings, so it’s unsurprising that the relationship between Cousins and the organization remains in question.

Shaquille O’Neal, one of the Kings several minority owners as Lowe pointed out, recently said that he is hearing that the Cousins era in Sacramento could be over soon:

“In the previous years, he’s been hot-headed, he hasn’t shown great leadership qualities yet,” O’Neal said. “He hasn’t shown those leadership qualities, and that’s why I’m hearing talk that if things don’t start to become correct, they may be looking to go in a different direction.”

With all the conflicting reports and quotes from people within the Kings organization, it definitely seems like the inevitable trade of Cousins will happen. It’s just a matter of when.

The 26-year-old Cousins will become a unrestricted free agent after the 2018 season, and he is currently one of the few pieces the Kings have to build around right now.

To start out the 2016-2017 season, the Kings are once again under .500, and Cousins is averaging 27.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.

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