Either Ryan McDonough has made a huge mistake or Vivek Ranadivé and Vlade Divac are intentionally running the Kings into the ground.

The Trade:

Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, 2017 1st round pick, and a 2017 2nd round pick (via Phi)

FOR

DeMarcus Cousins and Omir Casspi

The Pelicans have miraculously won the DeMarcus Cousins bidding war with an offer of a shinny new bike and bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. After years and years of trade rumors surrounding Boogie from teams all over the NBA, the Kings finally decided it was time to trade the best player they have had for the past seven years and they chose the worst possible offer imaginable.

How do you justify trading away the best center in the NBA who has stated countless times, just in the past two weeks alone, that he wants to remain on the Kings for his entire career for a package like that? I don’t even know where to begin with the mismanagement and atrocity that is this situation. Boogie’s twitter background literally depicts a cartoon figure of himself next to the Kings stadium with big friendly letters that read “Loyalty”. But the most ironic aspect of it all might be that Boogie was traded during his 48 hour “loyalty pledge” clothing sale to Sacramento.

Additionally, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Vlade called Boogie’s agent 40 minutes before the trade happened assuring him that he would not be traded from Sacramento. If the Kings weren’t already having problems attracting free agents to believe in the front office, they will now.

In all fairness Cousins needed a change of scenery and the Kings desperately needed a shift in direction. The real issue is the final asking price. Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway are reported to be cut or bought out by the Kings, so in essence the Kings are actually only receiving Buddy, the 1st rounder, and the 2nd rounder. That 1st rounder, to put in perspective, is currently valued only at the 9th slot but will greatly depreciate in value. Most likely that pick will end up 14th or 15th because the Pelicans now have a legitimate chance for the 8th seed. Furthermore, it is not as if their master plan could had been to increase their own draft pick value because if they fall too far the 76ers have the rights to swap picks if the Kings pick becomes more valuable.

There were reported multiple offers at play for Boogie, including one by the Suns. Over the offseason it was rumored that Orlando had offered Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic, and their 2017 1st round pick but the Kings turned them down. Detriot attempted to swap Cousins for Andre Drummond, but Sacramento again said no again. Sacramento attempted to lure Brandon Ingram from the Lakers, but the Laker said no. Phoenix’s offer, according to Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, was scrapped at the last minute because the Kings did not want Brandon Knight. The complete offer, rumored about a week ago by Arizona radio host John Gambadoro was Knight, T.J. Warren, Alex Len, and at least one draft pick.

If the Suns rumor had any truth to it, It does not make sense how the Kings could have chosen the Pelicans offer. Realistically, Knight and Len would have been there to match salaries and to get off the Suns books. The Kings don’t need Len. They have drafted numerous centers over the past few years who have just been rotting behind Boogie. Knight would’ve been a wild card for them but apparently they didn’t want to take on the $70 million contract that comes along with him. But the Kings valuing Hield over Warren does not make any sense. Warren is better than Hield, by almost every metric. Hield is averaging almost 5 points less than Warren, while shooting 39% from the field. Last season Warren shot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range. Hield might be a rookie but he’s only 3 1/2 months younger than Warren. In regard to the draft pick, Phoenix could had offered a slew of much more valuable picks. Their own is currently #2 in the draft and the Suns also own Miami’s 2019 and 2021 1st rounders.

The only reasonable explanation as to why Boogie is currently not on his way to Phoenix right now is either Sacramento is upset that McDonough fleeced Marquese Chriss from them; McDonough did not believe Cousins was going to re-sign with Phoenix; or the Kings front office is really this inext.

Something inside me is screaming that Phoenix could’ve at least offered the same deal. Maybe even a little more. Two bags of Cool Ranch. Maybe even a new electric scooter. Shoot – throw in an extra large pizza for Ranadivé on me. It is such a small risk to take for potentially having the best big man in the league for the next 5 years.