Vlade Divac: Kings had better offer for DeMarcus Cousins two days before trade
Sacramento Kings fans who are upset over the DeMarcus Cousins trade probably won’t want to hear what general manager Vlade Divac said at a Monday press conference.
Divac told reporters that he had a better offer on the table for Cousins two days prior to pulling the trigger on the trade that sent Cousins to New Orleans.
“I had a better deal two days ago,” Divac admitted to reporters on Monday, via Dieter Kurtenbach of Fox Sports. “Talk to those agents. I don’t want to go into details. I don’t want to discuss about the process. It was a big process for us.”
Divac batted away questions asking for details or clarification, but the message was clear: the Kings were offered what was, in Divac’s eyes, a better package for Cousins at the start of the weekend, and for one reason or another they ended up settling for less.
You have to wonder if ownership did some meddling here. We already heard that Vivek Ranadive is a huge Buddy Hield fan, and perhaps he pushed the general manager to take a package that involved Hield instead of an offer Divac felt was better for the team. Divac certainly didn’t seem thrilled about saying it – and why say it publicly in the first place?