What the future holds for De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings is anyone’s guess. Although it seems he may survive the NBA trade deadline, Fox isn’t a shoo-in to be on the roster next season, especially if the Kings pick up steam on a Ben Simmons trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
When a team rots at or near the bottom of a conference, no one should be safe. If there’s one player on the Kings who shouldn’t go anywhere, though, it’s Fox. Moving him would be reckless. There’s too much reason to keep and build around the University of Kentucky product.
Here’s why the Kings should keep De’Aaron Fox through the NBA trade deadline and the 2022-23 season.
De’Aaron Fox is a pillar for the Sacramento Kings
The Kings canned head coach Luke Walton two months ago and Alvin Gentry was subsequently promoted on an interim basis. Prior to Walton’s arrival, Dave Joerger had an auspicious 2018-19 season before being fired himself. Throughout the Kings’ coaching carousel, there has been one constant: De’Aaron Fox.
Over the last two seasons, Fox has become one of the best guards in the sport and a force to be reckoned with. He scores off the dribble, runs the fastbreak, can find his teammates and scores from midrange with ease. All the while, he’s a respectable defender.
Sure, Fox hasn’t been precisely as productive as he was last season. At the same time, he’s still an impact player on the offensive end that a team can lean on to be a leading or 1b source of offense. Fox has done as such for the Kings over the better part of the last three years. This is someone you build around, not trade for a combination of draft picks and raw players.
- De’Aaron Fox stats (2021-22): 21.0 points, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 45.8/24.8/74.4
Yes, Fox has found tremendous success on a bad Kings team. On the other hand, it’s a mistake to just discredit his success in saying he’s putting up empty numbers. A couple examples? Devin Booker and Zach LaVine. Booker and the Phoenix Suns were one of the worst teams in the sport on a yearly basis before going to the NBA Finals last season. Then they acquired Chris Paul and the stars aligned.
LaVine and the Chicago Bulls were a rebuilding team making minimal, if any progress last season. Then they acquired DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball and are now one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Booker proved in both a losing and winning situation that he’s an elite scorer. LaVine is doing the same this season.
Then there’s Fox and the Kings. While it’s unrealistic to expect any transaction to catapult them to the top of the West, there’s a could-be prosperous path forward for him and the organization.
Sacramento Kings can legitimately retool around De’Aaron Fox
The proposition of the Kings blowing up their roster with the exception of Fox sounds like a tedious talking point. Here’s the thing, though: they’ve never actually done it.
Buddy Hield was supposedly going to be traded in three NBA offseasons, and he’s still with the Kings. Marvin Bagley III and the Kings filed for a divorce two years ago but are still living in the same house. Harrison Barnes is a prime trade candidate. The Kings have to finally do what’s best for their organization, and that’s trying something, literally anything different.
- De’Aaron Fox contract per Spotrac: first season of a five-year, $163 million deal
Fox is a 24-year-old star who is just beginning a five-year extension. Second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton is a well-rounded, efficient player. These two and maybe rookie Davion Mitchell can stay.
Sacramento should be able to get a package centered around an immediate first-rounder and a former lottery pick for Hield, a first-rounder for Barnes and perhaps a young player under contract for Bagley. If they’re open to moving center Richaun Holmes, the Kings should be able to get a late first-rounder or player of similar value at a different position. Another option is packaging some of the aforementioned players in a trade for someone like Domantas Sabonis or Brandon Ingram. The options and outcomes are countless if they go down this road.
It’s unlikely that Gentry retains or wants to be the team’s 2022-23 head coach. Sacramento needs to go forth with an elaborate coaching search to find the right individual for the job. The Kings are 18-31. Worst-case scenario, they win games at that same clip the rest of the way with a new-look team. They have a franchise talent in Fox. Now they need to see whether they can get better results with a new coaching staff and roster around him.
The only way the Kings will find out if De’Aaron Fox can be the face of a perennial contender is by taking the next two years to retool around him. Trading Fox for Ben Simmons or continuing to go forward with this underachieving group is imprudent.