According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Sacramento Kings are trading De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal that also includes the Chicago Bulls. Zach LaVine will be joining the Kings in the trade. Fox’s reported desire to join the Spurs has finally come true.
The Kings will also receive Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 via Charlotte, 2027 via San Antonio, and 2031 via Minnesota), and three second-round picks (2025 via Chicago, 2028 via Denver, 2028 via Sacramento). The picks have various protections on them. Meanwhile, the Spurs get Fox and Jordan McLaughlin, and the Bulls get Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, and their own 2025 first-rounder back from the Spurs).
All that begs the question—who won the trade, and what grade should each team get for the deal?
Grading the De’Aaron Fox trade for the Kings
Obviously, the Kings would rather have Fox than LaVine. But context is important when it comes to this trade.
Fox put the Kings in a bind. With all of the reports proclaiming that he wanted to go to the Spurs, they were put in a pickle. They could have kept him on the roster and tried to convince him to stay, but with the way things were going, that seemed unlikely.
So, with that in mind, especially since the rest of the league knew Fox wanted to be in San Antonio long-term, the Kings actually made out pretty well.
LaVine is two years older than Fox, but he’s having a phenomenal season this year, averaging 24.0 points on 44.6% shooting from deep (on 7.3 three-point attempts per game).
Sacramento also got an absolute haul of draft picks, even though the Hornets pick is lottery-protected and will likely turn into second-rounders.
LaVine’s whale of a contract isn’t ideal, but considering the situation they were dealt, the Kings still got an All-Star-caliber player and an interesting project guy in Sidy Cissoko.
Grade: A-
Grading the De’Aaron Fox trade for the Spurs
That said, the Spurs also won this trade. San Antonio had a ton of draft capital to work with, and while they could have waited until 2026 free agency to try to sign Fox, getting him now is a much better plan.
It allows them to get him next to Victor Wembanyama as soon as possible and get working on an extension.
And better yet, the Spurs got to keep Keldon Johnson, Chris Paul, and Stephon Castle in the deal. This could not have gone any better for the Spurs.
Grade: A+
Grading the De’Aaron Fox trade for the Bulls
For the better part of the last two years, the Bulls have been trying to trade LaVine and his monster contract. They finally did it. But at what cost?
Well, they actually managed to get a first-round pick back for him! Kind of. They got control of their own pick back from the Spurs, which means they will now get the pick even if it falls outside of the top 10.
However, Zach Collins’ contract isn’t great, and neither is Kevin Huerter’s at this point. Tre Jones is a fine player, but he won’t do much for Chicago,
The best the Bulls can hope for now is that those three guys will play well enough to increase their value and make themselves into flippable assets.
But hey, at least Chicago finally got off the LaVine contract. That’s… something.
Grade: B