The Bernstein Brief: Bulls Must Be In Market For DeMarcus Cousins
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) We went through this four months ago, but it's worth discussing again. The relationship between DeMarcus Cousins and coach George Karl in Sacramento became untenable in June, but the Kings decided to forge ahead with the mercurial, talented center instead of trading him.
Now it's boiling over already, with Cousins blowing up at Karl after a loss Monday against the Spurs, and reports indicate the front office is in complete turmoil.
It all may result in Cousins staying and Karl going, but Bulls executives Gar Forman and John Paxson have to pick up the phone and see what Cousins would cost in trade.
This Bulls team isn't winning the title this year or any time soon, not with an ill-fitting roster that challenges any coaching style -- a lineup that can score can't defend, a lineup that defends can't score and their guards can't seem to decide through whom the offense should run and when.
The 25-year-old Cousins is a dynamic 20/10 machine who has yet to even tap all of his potential. So click open your trade calculators and see what can be packaged of the Bulls' pile of slow, aging and weird to match up. It might not be enough -- not with other interested teams like the Celtics and Lakers involved -- but Forman and Paxson have to at least find out.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.