On Tuesday, the Sacramento Kings took the NBA world by storm when it was announced that they and their franchise starting point guard, De'Aaron Fox, would be open to the prospect of exploring a trade. On top of that, Fox has a preferred destination for where he would like to be traded (many people believe it is the San Antonio Spurs).
That last piece of news makes this whole situation feel all the more real. It seems like Fox is truly done with the Kings and wants to be playing somewhere else. But Fox should take a second to truly think about what he's doing before the Kings honor his request.
Fox is leaving a lot of money on the table if he gets traded
As was pointed out by Spotrac's Keith Smith, Fox will be leaving a lot of potential money on the table if he gets traded from the Kings before signing an extension.
Remember, Fox was drafted by the Kings with the fifth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The reason this is important is because it means that he is eight years into his career with the team that drafted him.
As the website Hoops Rumors puts it, "A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran contract if he meets the required performance criteria. A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is technically a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required performance criteria. However, a player can’t sign a Designated Veteran deal with a new team — only his current team."
That last part is especially important here. This summer, if he makes an All-NBA team this year (more on this in a moment), Fox would have been eligible to sign the Designated Veteran (supermax) extension. That means that, instead of making 30% of the salary cap, he'd make 35% of the salary cap.
Now, like we said, there is no guarantee that Fox would have qualified for this opportunity. As we alluded to, a player needs to make the All-NBA team in the season prior to the summer that they have one or two years left on their current deal. Fox didn't make an All-NBA team last year, and it seems hard to envision him making an All-NBA team this year, especially given his recent struggles.
There also isn't a guarantee that, if Fox was eligible for the Designated Veteran (supermax) extension, the team would offer it to him. Teams have not been super quick to shell out money in the post-first/second apron landscape.
Still, if Fox goes through with what is being reported and gets traded, he eliminates any chance he has of signing the Designated Veteran (supermax) extension. That alone should be enough to make him think twice about his decision.