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Sacramento Kings: De’Aaron Fox receives vote for All-Defensive Second Team, but was it deserved?

By Jonathan Roberts

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 7: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings steals from Tristan Thompson #13 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena on December 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 7: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings steals from Tristan Thompson #13 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena on December 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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On Wednesday the NBA announced the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, also revealing that Sacramento Kings PG De’Aaron Fox received a vote for All-Defensive Second Team — was it deserved?

Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox is many things, he’s fast, electric and, according to one NBA Awards voter, an elite defender.

With the revealing of the 2019 NBA All-Defensive Teams, fans, players and media got a look at, not  only who made the teams, but also who received votes. Listed way down, 18th among guards not elected to either team, sat De’Aaron Fox’s name, receiving one vote for All-Defensive Second Team. Was it deserved though? And, if so, could Fox be a threat to make one of the All-Defensive Teams in the future? The answer to both those questions, is yes.

To be clear: De’Aaron Fox should not have made either of the All-Defensive Teams this season. Was he deserving of some recognition? Absolutely. But, he was not one of the NBA’s four best guards on defense this season, not by a long-shot.

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That distinction is the crux of Fox’s — and all NBA players’ — All-Defensive Team arguments. With just four total spots for guards and forwards (just two for centers), a player must be one of the four best defenders at his position to make the team. That’s not always how it works out, but that’s how it should be. 5 Reasons Sports’ Nekias Duncan authored an excellent twitter thread on that topic, so if you want further reasoning why that should be the standard, check out his thread, linked here.

This season though, Fox’s performance on defense was certainly worthy of recognition and it bodes well for his future success on the defensive end.

That statement, of course, won’t shock anybody who watched one of the Sacramento Kings’ league-high 49 games in the clutch, as Fox routinely displayed elite-defensive ability and instincts time and time again to preserve wins or keep things close. An elite defender in the clutch (defined as a game within five points with under five minutes to play) alone, however, isn’t somebody who should make an All-Defensive Team. Fortunately for Fox, he was much more than that.

Fox was tied for 32nd among all guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus (RPM) and while he lagged behind All-Defensive Team members Jrue Holiday (Second Team; 15th), Marcus Smart (First Team; T-13th) and Eric Bledsoe (First Team; 16th), he far outpaced Klay Thompson (Second Team; 179th), though to be fair so did nearly every other NBA guard.

Looking at his Defensive Player Impact Plus-Minus (D-PIPM) though, and Fox shoots up that list. Among guards with at least 2,000 minutes played, Fox’s plus-1.9 D-PIPM puts him 9th — behind Eric Bledsoe (plus-1.6; 4th) and Jrue Holiday (plus-1.1; 6th), but ahead of Marcus Smart (plus-0.7; 12th) and Klay Thompson (minus-1.6; 53rd). Now, this isn’t to say that Fox should’ve made it over them, but rather to illustrate that Fox’s defense is approaching an elite level already.

On top of that, Fox’s 1.6 steals per game were 9th in the NBA and his 0.6 blocks per game were 11th among all guards last season and his 45 blocks total, put him 9th in the same category. His 2.6% steal percentage was 16th in the league as well.

Fox may not have deserved to make it this year — though he’s clearly close — but he did deserve his lone vote and arguably should’ve received more support. Either way, Fox is already a plus-defender and if he continues to improve, he’ll be an elite defender capable on making an All-Defensive First Team, forget Second Team.

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