Reports of the Nets' interest in troubled Kings center DeMarcus Cousins won't go away. Even with owner Joe Maloof telling Yahoo! Sports he's not interested in trading Cousins, and his decision to fire Paul Westphal, ESPN's Marc Stein says eight teams including the Nets "registered interest" in the 6'11" Kentucky product.
In addition to New Jersey, Stein reports the confirmed suitors are Boston, Detroit, Indiana and Washington in the East and Portland, Houston and Utah in the West. There may be others as well.
One reason for the interest despite Cousins' multiple blow-ups is a belief among NBA executives that the Kings didn't handle the mercurial player well,
If the Nets wanted to trade for Cousins, then use him to trade for Dwight Howard, they'd have to make a deal by next weekend. Under NBA rules, teams can trade a newly acquired player straight-up for another individual player immediately, but If a team wants to package that player with another, then it must wait 60 days. The trade deadline is March 15. So, if Cousins isn't traded by January 15, the Nets wouldn't be allowed to trade him till after the deadline.
- Weekend Dime - Eastern Conference - Marc Stein - ESPN
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Kings need Smart to connect with Cousins - Marc J. Spears - Yahoo! Sports