The NBA Trade Rumors lit up with the news that DeMarcus Cousins is being pursued by at least three teams.

The rumor was floated by Sheridan Hoops which stated that the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat were the frontrunners to secure the services of the young, talented center.

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The report stated that it was unlikely for the Kings to trade DeMarcus Cousins so the Heat would shoot for Dwight Howard instead, sending Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow to the Houston Rockets instead for the unhappy Dwight Howard.

Whiteside is the NBA leader in blocked shots and Dwight Howard was won multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards early in his career. The Heat would have to add more pieces to match Howard's $ 22.3 million salary and that is why the Miami Herald's Ethan Skolnick declared that a trade involving Whiteside was unlikely to happen.

"Whiteside's contract is virtually worthless to another team," Skolnick declared. "That doesn't mean Whiteside is worthless. His skill set is worth plenty, even in a smallball era. But he's making just $981,348 this season, and he will be a free agent as soon as the season ends. Miami cannot sign him to an extension now and, unless he's willing to take a mid-level deal (he won't be), the Heat will need to use cap space to re-sign him because it doesn't have Bird Rights on him."

Skolnick says this is a major dilemma for the Heat because Dwyane Wade, the team's original superstar, will also be a free agent and they have to split the cap space with him because the Heat failed to acquire Whiteside's "Bird rights."

How about trading him to another team to secure assets then?

The Herald writer points out that any other team that trades for Whiteside will also not have the Bird rights so they need cap space for him. Granted, there are a lot of teams who can do that (like the LA Lakers) but they would rather wait until the end of the season when they can just sign Whiteside instead of trading an asset for him.

With their supposed trade asset being virtually untradeable, the Miami Heat may be out of the running for DeMarcus Cousins or Dwight Howard for that matter, unless they trade someone else.