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George Karl says he has never had an 'untradeable' player

"See, your and Gordon Hayward's salaries align perfectly ..." (Getty Images)

Probably 29 other NBA teams would fall over themselves for the chance to put together a deal for Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins is averaging over 24 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 blocks this year for another terrible Kings team, and his attitude and all-around play have improved quite a bit since Sacramento hired coach Michael Malone in 2013.

Malone isn’t coaching the team any more, and neither is his replacement Tyrone (“he’s here for the rest of the season!”) Corbin. Respected NBA lifer George Karl is Sacramento’s top coach, he’s coached the Kings for all over 29 games and Cousins for 19, and he’s open to all suggestions as to how to fix a Kings team that is in danger of missing the playoffs for the tenth straight season next year.

He won’t even rule out trading Cousins. Via Pro Basketball Talk, from CSN Bay Area:

“I’ve had some great players and I’ve never had one player that I have said is untradeable,” Karl added. “You always got to be ready for the possibility of a great trade that could come your way.

“I know I respect him (DeMarcus Cousins) a tremendous amount . . . I think our give and take and our communication has been almost on a daily basis . . . until we can really get to a special place together, I think we’ve got to continue to communicate, what he wants and what I want.”

You’ll recall, as Karl’s coaching career has moved along, his team’s actions have backed up his most recent declaration.

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He started with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the early 1980s, a team so willing to deal draft picks that the NBA had to establish a rule that first-round picks could not be traded in consecutive years, a rule initiated only because owner Ted Stepien traded pick after pick in exchange for an endless series of middling veterans.

He then joined the Golden State Warriors, who traded franchise center Joe Barry Carroll on his watch.

Karl didn’t hesitate to encourage a deal sending (then) hotheaded swingman Kendall Gill to Charlotte for the less-fiery (but better-fitting) Hersey Hawkins. Shawn Kemp was rumored to be close to being dealt to the Chicago Bulls following 1994-95, and he was eventually dealt to Cleveland in the fall of 1997.

Gary Payton managed to make it through an at-times tenuous relationship with Karl, but he was finally dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks at the 2003 NBA trade deadline … to a Bucks team coached by George Karl. Karl and the Bucks sent Ray Allen away in the move, only to watch as Allen went on to seven more All-Star teams following the deal. Payton’s contributions fell off precipitously, and both he and Karl would be out of Milwaukee just a few months after the transaction.

Surfacing in Denver a few years later, Karl was the Nuggets coach in 2011 when the team signed off on a long-rumored deal that was to send bored scoring forward Carmelo Anthony to New York. The Nuggets actually improved without Anthony, but Karl’s team could never turn the corner with the somewhat star-less (depending on how you considered Andre Iguodala, who was traded from Denver soon after Karl left) Nuggets.

Everyone is tradable. LeBron James, technically, was traded. Kobe Bryant was traded not because of some stink he was putting up about having to play in Charlotte, but because the Hornets thought the return (Vlade Divac, entering his prime) better suited their needs. Wilt, Kareem, Kevin Garnett and Dominique Wilkins have all been traded. Jim Jackson has been traded, people. Anthony Johnson, too.

Because this is the flighty Sacramento Kings, however, we’re left to assume that this should be some passive-aggressive knowledge drop regarding All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, however.

Maybe.

Because there’s this

“I know I respect him a tremendous amount,” Karl said.

followed up by this:

“Just the way any good offensive player can border on being selfish, there’s always going to be a little conflict there. But I think our give-and-take, our communication is almost on a daily basis, and I think that will continue until we can get to a special place together. We have to continue to communicate.”

Cousins is in the first year of a five-year, $65 million deal that, if 2014-15 is any indication, he will certainly earn. He “only” made the All-Star team as an injury replacement in the West this year, but acting as the 13th-best player (12th, if you dismiss Kobe Bryant’s fan vote as a starter in an injury-plagued year) in the loaded Western Conference is quite the accomplishment.

DeMarcus has been ruled out for the season, as the Kings look to secure losses and a lottery spot. If the Kings endure some major NBA draft lottery bad luck in May and fall out of the top ten (they currently have the best odds at the sixth pick with one game left to lose) the franchise will be forced to give up its pick to the Chicago Bulls.

It is not known whether or not Cousins is happy with the decision to sit the big man. Witness his Twitter reaction to the news (we’re guessing) from Saturday:

The deal that sent a potential pick to (eventually) Chicago happened one owner and one general manager ago, in the horrid Maloof brother/Geoff Petrie era. Speculation is running rampant that, once again, that embarrassingly impatient new’ish Kings owner Vivek Ranadive will make what is rumored right now official sometime this offseason – Vlade Divac would take over as player personnel boss, and current general manager Pete D’Alessandro would be out.

Karl mentioned D’Alessandro, who used to work with George in Denver, ahead of Vlade (ooooh!) prior to his “untradeable” comment:

“That’s (general manager) Pete (D’Alessandro) and (vice president) Vlade (Divac’s) area of expertise.”

It would seem a rather innocuous, and accurate, comment. With these Kings, though, you never know.

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Kelly Dwyer

is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!