According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Sacramento Kings are going to begin to open up trade talks surrounding star point guard De’Aaron Fox ahead of the February 6 trade deadline. This news comes just weeks after the Kings fired head coach Mike Brown and subsequently pushed back up into the mix for the playoffs.
Fox, who is 27 years old, has played in Sacramento his entire career. He made his first and only All-Star team in the 2022-23 season when he also led the Kings to their first playoff birth in 16 years. But now, with Fox’s contract only extending through the end of next season (and no extension in place), it seems as though his time in purple has come to a close.
But that’s not where the misery ends for the Kings.
De'Aaron Fox only wants to go to Spurs, which means the Kings' trade leverage is awful
See, if Fox simply told the Kings that he wanted to leave, it would be one thing. Sacramento would be able to scour the market for the best possible deal and get a solid return for the star. But that’s not what’s happening.
JUST IN: The Sacramento Kings are expected to open up talks to potentially deal All-Star De'Aaron Fox ahead of Feb. 6 trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. There will be plenty of suitors, but it's believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency. pic.twitter.com/Oh3fXgZjm3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 28, 2025
Instead of just asking for a trade, Fox has one specific trade destination in mind. And according to James Ham of ESPN 1320, that destination is the San Antonio Spurs.
According to multiple sources, if De'Aaron Fox leaves the Kings via trade, his preferred landing spot is the San Antonio Spurs. It could be an interesting couple of days in Sacramento.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) January 28, 2025
A Fox-Victor Wembanyama duo could be lethal moving forward, but the Kings are now in a very rough position.
Teams around the league may be interested in Fox, but since he will almost certainly let it be known that he will only re-sign in San Antonio, nobody will want to give the Kings fair value back in return.
Even the Spurs may be likely to underpay since they know that no other teams around the NBA will cough up legitimate assets for a one-and-a-half-year rental player.
That means the Kings will probably be forced to accept a measly return for Fox, who has been the centerpiece of their franchise for the better part of the last decade.
For the Kings, that is an absolute disaster.
The only real leverage the Kings have now is that they could simply hold onto Fox and prevent the Spurs from getting him until the summer of 2026. Because of that, San Antonio will probably give up some draft capital, and they will have to include the likes of Keldon Johnson and/or Zach Collins in a trade, but it’s still not ideal for the Kings.
Had Fox simply requested a trade, the Kings would have been alright. But he didn’t. He wants to go to the Spurs, and because of that, the Kings are in an awful position.