It has been two days since De’Aaron Fox became the most prominent young NBA star available heading into the Feb. 6 trade deadline, with the Sacramento Kings deciding to field trade offers for the 27-year-old former All-Star whose concerns about his long-term future in Sacramento have been a driving force in this situation.
Per league sources, the Kings continue to navigate a flurry of interest that has come their way as a result of the revelation. One league source indicated that more than half the teams in the NBA have inquired. The prospect of Fox being moved, and his eight-year tenure with the Kings coming to an end, has never been more real.
As expected, league sources say those trade talks include the team that is known to be Fox’s preferred destination: the San Antonio Spurs. Yet while it remains to be seen if Fox will become Victor Wembanyama’s co-star in the next week, or if the Spurs might be able to push the negotiations into the offseason as a way to simplify their roster-building process while not losing out on Fox to another team, key factors here will have to be figured out if Fox is going to land in San Antonio.
Chief among them? The possible Stephon Castle inclusion, or potential lack thereof.
The Kings are known to covet the Spurs rookie guard who was taken fourth overall out of Connecticut in the NBA Draft last June, but there is serious skepticism in league circles that San Antonio will be willing to include him. If that’s ultimately the case, the Kings would have to determine whether there’s an acceptable pathway to doing the deal without him. That’s not the end of San Antonio’s considerations, either.
While the Spurs (20-24) have lost eight of their last 10 games while falling to 12th in the Western Conference, they’ve still made major strides from their 22-win campaign of last season. Veteran point guard Chris Paul, who signed a one-year deal worth $11 million to join them in July, has been a driving force in that progress while earning significant respect within the organization along the way. For the Spurs’ purposes, it would be easier to integrate Fox in the summer while letting the 39-year-old Paul finish this productive season in his twilight. Fox, who turned down multiple extension offers from the Kings leading up to this point, has one season left on his contract ($37 million).
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Beyond the Spurs, who have the luxury of operating with the knowledge that Fox is likely to sign an extension if he comes their way, the Kings’ attention has no doubt turned to teams that must view Fox as a rental. The question there, it seems, is whether the Kings are motivated enough to truly consider offers that would likely be far less attractive than the Spurs’ because of the risk factor involved for teams that roll the dice. The mood of the team could certainly play a part here, as league sources close to several Kings players expressed frustration that this situation has become such an ill-timed distraction.
The Kings (24-23) are tied with the Golden State Warriors for 10th in the West. They lost to Philadelphia on Wednesday, falling 117-104 to a Sixers team that was without Joel Embiid and Paul George, but had won 11 of the previous 15 games under interim coach Doug Christie.
As the Kings front office continues to canvass the league for solutions to their uncertain future, with known involvement in several situations beyond Fox, this much is clear: They do not see Jimmy Butler as the answer. Per league sources, the Kings are not pursuing the disgruntled Miami star who is serving an indefinite suspension while Heat officials attempt to trade him.
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That makes sense, too. The Fox situation is headache enough on its own. And as Fox has made clear for quite some time now, his aspirations are higher than this current Kings plight.
“I want to make sure that we’re in that position to be competing and competing at a high level for a long time, not just fighting for a playoff spot,” he told me in mid-October. “Obviously, the way that the West is going, we have to continue to get better as players and as a team, as an organization. And, I mean, I’m not saying I’m not staying or that I am staying. But I would love to be here, and I want to make sure that we’re competing at a high level.
“We don’t want to have our peak season being two years ago and just making the playoffs. We want to continue to build on that and just continue to try to change this culture. I think it’s changed already, but you want to build a championship culture, and you have to be able to do those things before you even get to the top. … I definitely feel like we have the talent to (contend). But now, it’s, ‘Can we execute that plan?’”
The plan, quite clearly, has changed.
(Top photo of De’Aaron Fox: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
