Vlade Divac has gone on record to say the Sacramento Kings will not trade DeMarcus Cousins before the Feb. 23rd deadline.

"We're not trading DeMarcus," Divac told ESPN. "We hope he's here for a long time."

Divac recently met face to face with Cousins and his representatives to make it clear that he won't be made available to interested teams.

ESPN reported in early January that the Kings already have begun planning to offer Cousins one of the league's new maximum Designated Player contract extensions, which could be worth $219 million over five seasons.

Asked by ESPN on Monday about those intentions by ESPN, Divac said: "We are going in that direction."

If the Kings and Cousins come to terms on an extension this summer, he will be wedded to Sacramento until July 2018 at the earliest. The rules attached to the new Designated Player provision would prevent Cousins from becoming trade eligible ‎for one full year after he signs.