Nothing has been the same for the Sacramento Kings since De'Aaron Fox left. He requested a trade from the franchise early in 2025. According to his agent, Rich Paul, Fox never wanted to leave the team. In the end, it was Sacramento that forced his hand and pushed him into a tough decision.
Rich Paul reveals De’Aaron Fox never wanted to leave the Kings
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) January 8, 2026
“When I first signed him one of the biggest things was he really wanted to see it through in SAC because they drafted me, he liked the ownership group etc.”
(h/t @NBA__Courtside)pic.twitter.com/5rRm9Rnxd0
Rich Paul is one of the biggest sports agents in the business. He is the founder and CEO of the Klutch Sport Group, managing the likes of LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Anthony Davis, and Zach LaVine. As an aside, he is also engaged to the legendary British singer and songwriter Adele.
Another one of Paul's biggest clients is De'Aaron Fox, whom he has represented since day one in the league. He has been there for all of Fox's NBA career, including playing a major role in the trade that sent Fox to the Spurs and brought LaVine to Sacramento.
During a recent appearance on the Game Over podcast, Paul said that Fox never wanted to leave the Kings and planned to spend his entire career in Sacramento. Obviously, that didn't happen, which begs the question of what changed De'Aaron's mind and put him on a different path.
Fox's relationship with the Kings is more complicated than it looked
The firing of Mike Brown has long been blamed as the driving force behind Fox's departure. It's likely better described as the straw that broke the camel's back. It was probably frustration with years of mismanagement and a lack of forward thinking on the part of the front office that pushed Fox out.
During De'Aaron's tenure, the Kings saw the postseason once and lost in the first round. That was the most successful season the franchise has had in the last two decades, which is rather sad. Many people, including Fox, likely expected the team to build on that success and grow from there.
Instead, Sacramento did nothing of substance and was basically frittering the career of one of the most underrated point guards in the modern NBA away. Brown was fighting to make something from nothing and got fired because it was not working out.
Every player in the NBA has the same goal of winning a championship. After seven and a half seasons and the firing of Mike Brown, it must have become evident to Fox that he wasn't going to get that in Sacramento. He left because the Kings essentially gave him no other reasonable choice.