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The Sacramento Kings trade DeMarcus Cousins and the Sixers win too

By Chuck Booth

Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) passes the ball against New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) passes the ball against New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans may be the teams making headlines tonight but with this chain of events, the Sixers win too.

The Sixers have the right to swap for the Sacramento Kings’ first rounder this year thanks to their trade in July of 2015 when Sam Hinkie fleeced the Kings. Sacramento was in full salary dump mode and sent Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, the rights to swap first rounders in 2016 and 2017 as well as the Kings’ first rounder in 2019. All for the rights to Arturas Gudaitis and Luka Mitrović.

It looked like the swap wouldn’t help the Sixers with the Kings currently having two more wins but the Kings decided to shake the NBA by trading DeMarcus Cousins. It’s an interesting decision that puts the ineptitude of the Kings front office on full display after they guaranteed that Cousins’ future would be in Sacramento but in the world of sports, everyone has a price.

The Pelicans, who may be best remembered in Philadelphia as one of the teams “in on Jahlil Okafor” were able to pull off a trade to assemble a Cousins / Anthony Davis frontcourt that immediately becomes one of the best in the NBA.

According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, “The Pelicans were very close on a deal for Jahlil Okafor about 10 days ago, offering a similar package except it didn’t include Hield.” So the Sixers were likely used as leverage again here like they were in the Nuggets – Trailblazers trade but this trade sent a seismic blow across the NBA.

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical had the news from day one stating that the Kings were involved in talks to trade Boogie and it seems like those talks got bigger during the All-Star game as Boogie played sporadically. Then Woj dropped the bombshell announcing that the trade was complete.

The Sixers fingerprints were all over this deal as the second rounder that the Pelicans shipped to the Kings was initially owned by the Sixers but was sent to New Orleans in the Ish Smith deal.

Next: Okafor Oddly Rejoins Sixers, Plays In Boston

The bigger deal for Sixers’ fans is that the Kings are officially in tank season, raising the likelihood that they will be able to swap for a top 10 pick significantly. In a draft as deep as this on, there could be a bevy of options to pick up when Philadelphia are on the clock and that makes them winners on the night. Sometimes you don’t have to be directly involved in a trade to feel it’s benefits and that’s what the Sixers learned tonight.