Los Angeles Lakers Attempting to Acquire DeMarcus Cousins From Sacramento Kings [Report]

Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins seems to have a great suitor in the league with the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly determined to take him for a trade.

According to ESPN sources, the Lakers have been looking into trade scenarios for the past weeks to ink a deal with the Kings to acquire Cousins. The report, however, said that the Kings seem not interested in letting the star player go.

Kings vice president Vlade Divac said in a recent Sports Illustrated report that trading Cousins will not happen.

"That is not happening... but I would love to do something, a smaller move, before the draft. We have a lot of changes to make. The league is much more up-tempo now, and we need more three-point shooting. If we don't get that in the draft, we'll be active in free agency and see about making trades later in the off-season," Divac said.

But this is different from what the ESPN tipsters revealed, saying that the Lakers, Kings and the Orlando Magic "have had exploratory dialogue on a three-way Cousins trade that would land the 24-year-old in Los Angeles."

These teams have the top 6 picks in the coming NBA draft and it is believed that Magic's center Nikola Vucevic would fill in for Cousins.

Bleacher Report said that the Lakers badly want Cousins because he is a "best value" in the league with a contract worth $65.6 million.

"He's a franchise centerpiece, a physically overwhelming interior presence who, given the right scheme, could absolutely anchor an elite offense," added Bleacher Report, noting that he is one of the big men in the NBA.

According to SB Nation, another reason why the Lakers want Cousins is because they want to have a lead player for the team after the retirement of Kobe Bryant.

"That man could very well be Cousins after the Chris Paul trade was vetoed and the Dwight Howard acquisition went poorly. Cousins may already be the league's best inside scorer. He's a sure thing, whereas a draft pick like Jahlil Okafor or D'Angelo Russell will take time to develop," the report noted.

In addition, Cousins' trade is believed to involve the No. 2 pick of the Lakers on Thursday along with Julius Randle, who is last year's lottery pick.

Aside from the Lakers, the Denver Nuggets are also persistent suitors of Cousins since they will be adding former Kings coach Mike Malone to the team. It will be exciting to know where Cousins will land in the upcoming draft. Will he remain in Sacramento or will he go to Los Angeles and play alongside Bryant? These questions will remain unanswered until Thursday.