The Sacramento Kings are in a dismal slump and center DeMarcus Cousins is the only player they would not be willing to trade.

A city that almost lost its NBA team is struggling. A decade ago, they were staring at the Los Angeles Lakers with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in a fight for the West championship. Now, they're staring at a 1-5 record and have the fan base questioning whether they were worth the fight.

New coach Mike Malone is not indifferent to the problems. He has already hinted at 'changes' in the lineup. In the NBA, when a coach says a change in the lineup, it's only with the starting lineup or the rotation. However, the new ownership wants to make a statement, and having a next generation star center in DeMarcus Cousins is not enough.

Malone laments the lack of spirit from his players. Speaking with Sactown Royalty:  "Obviously, DeMarcus [Cousins] is, you know, he's going to be our starting center. But after that, you know, we have to find a group that is willing to compete and play at a high level every minute they are on the floor and we can't have guys, if you miss a shot or you make a mistake, hang your head and not make up for it on the other end."

In a separate statement he gave to Sactown Bee: "We made a couple of tweaks but we're not going to talk about it right now. Guys understand when you lose five games in a row and you get down by 20 points it seems every game, we can't continue to do what we're doing."

There are some divisive issues on the team, but DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmer Freddette and Greivis Vazquez expressed support for their coach.

Meanwhile, the glaring weakness of Sacramento is in the small forward position. A trade rumor for Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls can work. Deng has strained relations with Bulls management and he will be a free agent at the end of the season. He can sign with any team.

But Sacramento might be a good place to re-sign for Deng. The small forward market is loaded with Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay possible to become free agents, not to mention Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Aaron Gordon from the draft. 

The Chicago Bulls can get sparkplug Isaiah Thomas, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons, a former Bull whose contract is expiring. The trade rumor is purely speculative at this point.