It’s a truism in sports that some of the best deals are the ones you don’t make, but another truism is that the benefits of trading a superstar may sometimes be the key to forward progress.
That is what is known as addition by subtraction, and in the case of the star athletes on this list, it may be time for them to go because they’ve hit a brick wall. In some cases, that wall has nothing to do with diminished talent and everything to do with attitude or a reputation of not being coachable.
The athletes on this list for one reason or another (bad contracts, bad attitudes, trading for assets) are holding their teams back. And though they are all talented, their drawbacks may now be larger than the benefits they bring to each of their teams.
NBA teams will more than just kick the tires if the Sacramento Kings make 27-year-old DeMarcus Cousins available for trade.
But is he worth it?
The easy answer is “yes” based on career numbers of 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. And his stats this season through 44 games are even better, as he’s posting an eye-popping 28.0/10.2/4.4 line.
And yet Cousins is a polarizing figure because he has gained a reputation as a player who can’t be coached, and whose emotions often derail his game.
He has caused plenty of publicity nightmares for Kings management, and even with his impressive array of skills, he has yet to lead Sacramento to the playoffs in his six full seasons.
The Kings could rebuild by trading Cousins for players and draft picks, but would they be giving up on a potential future Hall of Fame center?
And if they keep him, can they control his behavior?
In a recent profile, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN wrote that the key to keeping Cousins happy is establishing trust, something that Kings management has not done well the past few years.
At this point, it does seem as if team chemistry would improve if Cousins was traded, but does Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive have the will to do it?
Time will tell.
The Carmelo Anthony saga in New York appears to be in its final act.
For the past few weeks, the mercurial small forward has waged a public war of words with New York Knicks general manager Phil Jackson about whether Anthony wants to remain in the Big Apple.
Last Wednesday, ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chris Haynes reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers had turned down an offer of Anthony for Cavs power forward Kevin Love.
Things in New York came to a boil when Anthony took issue with an article written by a friend of Jackson’s, which critiqued his playing style and fit with the team.
Anthony met with Jackson after the article was published, but the meeting appeared to bear little fruit.
“If they tell me they want to scrap this whole thing, yeah, I have to consider it,” Anthony said, per Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
Through January 29, the Knicks are 21-28 and 2.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 4-6 over the last 10 games, and their uninspired performances have made it unlikely that the team will make a real run at the playoffs.
Per Matt Moore of CBSSports.com, as of January 29 the Clippers were aggressively trying to acquire Anthony without giving up Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan or Blake Griffin and were looking for a third team, such as the Boston Celtics, to facilitate what would be a blockbuster trade.
Despite his All-Star status, Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls is on shaky ground with the franchise.
With the Bulls unable to separate from the pack of Eastern Conference also-rans, with a pedestrian 23-25 record through January 29 and a 4-6 record the past 10 games, speculation has intensified as to whether Bulls management should blow it all up and start over.
That would likely mean trading Butler, the team’s best player who, along with future Hall of Fame teammate Dwyane Wade, was benched for the Bulls’ January 27 game against the Miami Heat for critical comments the pair made about their teammates’ lack of passion in a recent loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Things grew tenser in Chicago when guard Rajon Rondo sniped back at Butler and Wade in an Instagram post for their lack of leadership, and fans are wondering whether head coach Fred Hoiberg is the problem, or whether a house-cleaning is in order.
Trading Butler, who is on the cusp of superstardom, would net the Bulls draft picks and at least one good player. And given the bad vibes in the Second City, it’s hard to imagine Butler remaining with the Bulls for the long term.
