Report: Kings owner gave Cousins' agent green light to pursue Lakers trade

Vlade Divac has been a busy man. The recently hired vice president of basketball and franchise operations of the Sacramento Kings likely hasn't had much downtime of late, focusing largely on cleaning up the mess that has consumed the organization in recent weeks.

By now, most NBA followers are painfully aware of the ongoing drama in California's state capital: head coach George Karl pushes for All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to be traded, Cousins and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive resent such a power play, Divac goes on damage control and refuses to be bullied into making rash decisions.

On Friday, a new detail came to light which added an extra layer of intrigue to the already bizarre set of circumstances. According to USA Today's Sam Amick, Ranadive had given permission to Cousins' agent, Dan Fegan, to pursue the highly-publicized trade proposal which involved the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ultimately, the trade did not go down, and Cousins remains a member of the Kings.

The significance of this additional wrinkle to the story, however, derives from the fact that Ranadive, Cousins' staunchest supporter, may have caved under the pressure stemming from the tension existing between his coach and his franchise player.

Known for his sometimes stubborn style of leadership, Ranadive has struggled to establish consistency and cohesion throughout the Kings organization since purchasing the team in 2013.

As the captain of the ship, Ranadive faces the challenging task of amending the tumultuous relationships between Cousins and Karl and between Karl, himself, and his front office prior to the start of the 2015-16 season. Perhaps granting permission for Fegan to explore trade options for Cousins was Ranadive's way of trying to do away with the toxic cloud looming over his franchise.

Stay tuned. Don't change the channel. More drama after the commercial break.