De'Aaron Fox Traded to Spurs for Zach Lavine, three first round picks


Vassell’s deal sorta overtook Lavine’s as ”Worst contract in the league” this season and people were literally angry about us potentially getting Keldon two days ago lmao
What’s even more KINGS-like than being on the wrong side of a trade and not bringing back a single name on that list, is that they also didn’t manage to nab a worthwhile lengthy wing in the process of sending away their franchise player.

They say some things never change.

Another scoring guard. That’s seemingly all this FO collects.
 
This is not a ringing endorsement for making LaVine the centerpiece of the return for the Kings though.

If folks can look past their hate for De'Aaron Fox and relief that this nightmare scenario is now over, I think they would see that this deal is on the low end of the return we were all hoping for. It sucks that we got backed into a corner but we needed to come out of this with one significant asset -- a good young player on a rookie contract, a future unprotected lottery pick. Something to give us hope for the future. We swapped Fox for a veteran who was very recently available for salary filler and the throw-in's were two first round picks that are likely to be in the mid to late 20s, and 4 second round picks.

Now granted I'm way down on LaVine but personally I don't see him as asset. And even worse, he's dangerously close to being a liability. What's the over/under on his games played for the next 3 years? I'm guessing he averages 50 games a year and we're going to be paying him $138 million in that time frame. He and Monk are going to torpedo all chance of this ever being a top 10 defense again. This is a prelude to a rebuild and all because someone in our front office is too impatient to take a small step backward in order to have a brighter future.

I don't know what else was out there -- maybe this is the best we would do given Rich Paul had already knee-capped us by telling everyone who would listen that Fox would only re-sign with the Spurs. But even if that's true, I'm not going to celebrate this as a win for the Kings. Our team got even worse on defense, older, more fragile, more expensive, and our window for trying to compete is probably done. We'll play out the rest of the string on LaVine and DeRozan. I hope to God we just let LaVine walk at that point. Maybe by 2031 if Minnesota sucks we'll have two lottery picks plus whatever we manage to flip Sabonis for.
and contrary to popular belief, Lavine is in the same group as Cam Johnson, Lauri, BI and OG when it comes to health. That’s the reality for a big chunk of nba players. It’s also why we need real depth
 
Il not sure if you’re being sarcastic but that’s actually true
This is not a ringing endorsement for making LaVine the centerpiece of the return for the Kings though.

If folks can look past their hate for De'Aaron Fox and relief that this nightmare scenario is now over, I think they would see that this deal is on the low end of the return we were all hoping for. It sucks that we got backed into a corner but we needed to come out of this with one significant asset -- a good young player on a rookie contract, a future unprotected lottery pick. Something to give us hope for the future. We swapped Fox for a veteran who was very recently available for salary filler and the throw-in's were two first round picks that are likely to be in the mid to late 20s, and 4 second round picks.

Now granted I'm way down on LaVine but personally I don't see him as asset. And even worse, he's dangerously close to being a liability. What's the over/under on his games played for the next 3 years? I'm guessing he averages 50 games a year and we're going to be paying him $138 million in that time frame. He and Monk are going to torpedo all chance of this ever being a top 10 defense again. This is a prelude to a rebuild and all because someone in our front office is too impatient to take a small step backward in order to have a brighter future.

I don't know what else was out there -- maybe this is the best we would do given Rich Paul had already knee-capped us by telling everyone who would listen that Fox would only re-sign with the Spurs. But even if that's true, I'm not going to celebrate this as a win for the Kings. Our team got even worse on defense, older, more fragile, more expensive, and our window for trying to compete is probably done. We'll play out the rest of the string on LaVine and DeRozan. I hope to God we just let LaVine walk at that point. Maybe by 2031 if Minnesota sucks we'll have two lottery picks plus whatever we manage to flip Sabonis for.
Don't like this take at all
 
Still digesting. Not sure if I like it and now Huerter’s money is gone so there likely won’t be any more trades to balance the roster which this trade does not do.

I guess we may see DeMar moved

I also dont see where we get our pick swap back and how we couldn’t get a real 2025 first rounder in the deal

I wouldve preferred the Vassell, Sochan, 3 first rounders I was preparing to be angry about to be honest. I like LaVine but I’m not comfortable he’ll stay healthy

We’ll see but when it’s fully digested I don’t think I’ll be happy with the return. Though I’m atleast glad we can move on from Fox
The trade exception intrigues me. We absolutely can do more now
 
What’s even more KINGS-like than being on the wrong side of a trade and not bringing back a single name on that list, is that they also didn’t manage to nab a worthwhile lengthy wing in the process of sending away their franchise player.

They say some things never change.

Another scoring guard. That’s seemingly all this FO collects.
Sadly, we got 2 guards back. Tall guards at least, but like you say not the length we needed.
 
But we most certainly did one for them though. That’s the problem. When the Spurs said Castle was off the table, hang the **** up and go to the next team. Fox had more value than what we got today.
Castle is not good!

Do you know how many open 3s this guy gets just for being next to Wimbly? Like what is this with this guy. Only thing he has going for him is he's 6,6 and athletic.

We don't need a project, we have Carter if we wanna bank on potential
 
That's VERY much not true. You can be sad about Sochan/Castle, because prospect(s) but Keldon and Vassel aren't close to LaVine. Like not even the same realm.

I'd love even one paragraph of any sort of data to back up this claim.

And before you rip me as a "OMG MONTE LOVER FAN CLUB GUY", i rated this deal a 5.5/10. Hardly a ringing endorsement.
length
lavine Wingspan 6’ 8”
Vassel Wingspan 6’ 10”

age
Lavine age: 29
Vassel Age: 24

contract
Lavine Contract: 40M
Vassel Contract: 27M

so tell me exactly which of my comments are not true. Yes Levine can score but there are actually 2 sides to the game and with Monk, Levine, Deebo, and Sabonis porous doesn’t begin to describe it.
 
Klutch be Klutch'n

The more I think about it, the more I hate this trade. I'm wishing nothing but evil on Fox for screwing over this fanbase with his SA or nothing BS, and I'm going to troll the hell out of the Spurs fanbase when Wemby leaves them for the Lakers at the end of his rookie deal.
Honestly Luka in LA and the mere existence of OKC, kind of negates whatever the spurs do lol no one will fear them IMO. Wemby is amazing but they’re gonna need a lot more than what they have.
 
Too bad a lot of the Kings fans are not Snell fans for leaving the Giants for the hated Dodgers.
As a Dodgers fan, I’m one of the few. lol.

At least one of the teams I root for is competent and the envy of the league wrt how the front office and ownership makes things happen. Even their farm and developmental system is among the best.

The Dolphins and Kings, not so much.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
We got the monkey off our backs with Fox leaving. I'm not nearly as heartbroken as I was with Cousins being sent out, I don't know why, but I am just not. Maybe it's because of how we traded Cousins, but I don't think Fox was on the same talent level as Cousins (man, if only he could have kept his cool even halfway under control). I don't have the sense of dread either. Somehow, it feels like it's going to work out. I definitely have a feeling there is at least one more trade incoming. Roster is far too unbalanced now, it needs some tidying up.
I’ll tell you why because Cousins wanted to be a King. I will not forgive Fox for a very long time if ever. Maybe when he announces his retirement and plays his final games I could appreciate it but he’s dead to me and I wish him and the Spurs nothing but ill.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
Don't like this take at all
No worries. I'm just giving my honest assessment of the trade, not trolling for likes. I've been vehemently against the idea of a LaVine trade every time it was brought up. I put him in the same category as Kyle Kuzma. I would even go so far as to say that any GM who thinks LaVine is a player that they want on their team is not a GM that I can take seriously anymore. I liked Monte up to this point, but he swung and missed on this one in my opinion and that contract is bad enough that it's going to take a long time for the full implications of this mistake to play out.