As the Sacramento Kings continue to (seemingly) fumble the bag with the De'Aaron Fox situation, it is growing more and more likely that his days are numbered in Northern California. With this breakup potentially on the horizon, one can't help but reflect on Fox's time with the Kings.
For the most part, you can't quibble too much with how Fox has performed for the Kings during his time here. Most of the time, he didn't have much talent/structure to work with, and when he was given it, he was able to guide them to their first playoff appearance in over half a decade. This past summer, Fox was ranked the fifth greatest Sacramento Kings' player by Sactown Sports. On top of that, this year, Fox is putting up counting stats that are on par with MVP candidates.
If we really are near the end, it is clear that Fox had a successful run in Sacramento. But still, one can't help but wonder what could have been if not for him being on the team.
Luka Doncic could have been a King
Fox was selected by the Kings with the fifth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Given how valuable of an asset the Kings used on him and the intrigue he flashed in his rookie season, the Kings weren't ready to draft another lead initiator in 2018. So, they chose to pass on Luka Doncic when he was on the board, and it was their turn to make a selection with the second overall pick in the draft.
"The current front office regime in Sacramento is a new one, but it inherited the gravity of the commitment this franchise made to Fox. Passing over Luka Dončić in the 2018 draft, at least in part because of how much the Kings believed in Fox as their lead ballhandler, makes it even more imperative that they get it right on the next steps with his future," NBA Insider Marc Stein wrote in a recent news dump on his substack.
In theory, it makes sense. Why would you want to pair two guys who like playing with the ball in their hands and struggle playing off of it together?
But given how much success Doncic has had (already establishing himself as one of the greatest offensive players in NBA History) and how far he's been able to take the Dallas Mavericks, it is hard not to do some revisionist history and wish that he was there instead of Fox.
With that said, Fox shouldn't be purely to blame here. Just because you don't take Doncic doesn't mean you had to take Marvin Bagley III over someone like, say, Jaren Jackson Jr. (a former Defensive Player of the Year).
You can call this hindsight bias, but think about it. Even at that time it was clear that Bagley was more of a callback to the classical low post bigs of the 1990s, while Jackson signaled a glimpse of what was to come with the future of the unicorn centers. In a game that is always evolving, it is better to push to the future than try to stay stuck in the past.
Yeah, the Kings could have had Doncic if not for Fox. But he isn't the reason they are where they are right now.