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).
Everyone in the NBA world has been reacting to this news (myself included). But for some reason, no one has really been asking what drove Fox to this decision. What drove him to want out from the only organization he's ever known?
Well, while we don't know for certain, this quote may provide some key insight into the matter.
Front office may have drove De'Aaron Fox away
In a recent episode of the widely popular Kings podcast, "The Kings Beat Podcast," James Ham – a Kings reporter – had this to say about the Kings front office.
“I know [the Kings] had a deal worked out for somebody a week ago, and they went and told their players… and then they didn’t do it.”
— KeeganMuse (@KeegMuse) January 29, 2025
“They are perpetually stuck in this cycle of being close to a couple of deals… and then nothing actually happens.”
via @James_HamNBA pic.twitter.com/UMAFcNMATY
“I know [the Kings] had a deal worked out for somebody a week ago, and they went and told their players… and then they didn’t do it," Ham said. “They are perpetually stuck in this cycle of being close to a couple of deals… and then nothing actually happens.”
The Kings have been a good, but not great, team for the last 2.5 years. In 2022-23, the Kings won 48 games, and in 2023-24, they won 46 games. Those are respectable marks, especially in the unforgiving Western Conference, but the Kings clearly needed another piece to take the next step.
This summer, they tried to do that by executing a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that he alone was not enough to take this team over the hump (hence the team hardly hovering over .500).
As we've noted on numerous occasions on this website, the Kings need more size, shooting, and defense. However, despite having some resources to acquire a player or two who can shore up those deficiencies, the team has failed to do that.
As someone who has been forced to endure five miserable losing seasons in Sacramento, it is probably extremely frustrating for Fox to see the front office dragging their feet to improve a roster that already has some nice talent and that has the chance to make some nice with the right move.
It may have been frustrating enough to drive Fox to this situation, to drive a franchise star out of his home for the last eight seasons.