De’Aaron Fox is headed to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-team deal that’s sending Chicago’s Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings, a team source told The Athletic.
Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Tre Jones will head to the Chicago Bulls as part of the deal. Jordan McLaughlin will go to the Spurs. The Kings are also acquiring three first rounders and three second rounders in the trade, league sources said.
But one of the firsts is a Hornets 2025 top-14 protected pick, which almost surely won’t convey, instead becoming their 2026 and 2027 seconds, league sources said. So the final draft tally on the Fox trade for the Kings will presumably be five seconds and two firsts (San Antonio’s 2027 first and Minnesota’s 2031 first).
The move pairs Fox up with Victor Wembanyama. The Kings decided to field trade offers for the 27-year-old, as The Athletic reported last week, over concerns about his long-term future in Sacramento.
It’s been a productive but rocky season for Fox and the Kings, the last of his eight with the franchise that drafted him fifth in 2017. He departs averaging a team-high 25.0 points on nearly 47 percent shooting, ranking second on the Kings in assists, third in rebounds and first in steals.
GO DEEPER
Why struggling Kings have entered the danger zone around De’Aaron Fox’s future
But his 3-point percentage has careened back to 32.2 percent after rising to 36.9 percent a season ago and his signature fourth quarter flurries weren’t as regular or impactful. The reigning Clutch Player of the Year dragged Sacramento across the finish line several times in their resurgent 46-win and 48-win seasons, the first two under former head coach Mike Brown, but everything abruptly came to a December halt in Brown’s third season.
It was actually a clutch Fox blunder that became the signature event in Brown’s stunning dismissal, generating an extra ripple effect that only sped up Fox’s departure.
On Dec. 26, protecting a three-point lead over the Pistons with under 10 seconds left, Fox fell asleep defensively, gave up an open 3 in a no 3s scenario and, in a scramble, compounded the mistake with a desperation foul, gifting the Pistons a comeback win that capped a catastrophic 0-5 homestand for the Kings to drop them to a disappointing 13-18.
JADEN IVEY 4-POINT PLAY FOR THE WIN ‼️
Pistons win 114-113 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9wuXDyj85V
— NBA (@NBA) December 27, 2024
In the aftermath, Brown ripped Fox for the mistake postgame and the organization decided to fire Brown the following afternoon, never explaining the decision publicly, which turned the spotlight onto Fox as many speculated about his involvement.
The sloppy timing and lack of organizational accountability only grew frustration within Fox that had been building about the instability and general stagnation in Sacramento, league sources confirmed. He’d made it clear in both his refusal to sign an extension this past summer and his transparent public comments to The Athletic and others about his desire to be on a perennial contender that his eyes were wandering.
The Kings rebounded with an inspired seven-game win streak under interim head coach Doug Christie and, still at 24-24 after some recent struggles, are in the mix for a Play-In spot in a crowded pocket of the Western Conference.
But Fox clearly has the bigger picture in mind and made it obvious to the front office that he views his future elsewhere. With 1 1/2 seasons still left on his contract, they decided to strike now before the value possibly diminishes this upcoming summer.
For the Spurs, this is the first high-priced personnel strike of the Wembanyama era, bringing in a legitimate perimeter co-star in his prime to speed up the rebuild process. Wembanyama is averaging 24.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a stunning 4.0 blocks and 1.1 steals in a spectacular second season, already earning his first All-Star nod and well on his way to All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year honors.
The Spurs improved at the margins around him this summer, adding veterans like Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes to aid a young core that now includes Stephon Castle, drafted fourth in June and protected in these talks with the Kings. They’re 21-25, on the fringe of the conference Play-In mix, and now have an elite scoring guard in Fox to integrate for a possible late-season push, but, more importantly, grow together for the next half-decade.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
