Amick: De’Aaron Fox requests trade

Yeah, I'm on the same page. I'm just remarking on the fact that a great many Kings fans are giddy at the prospect of trading Fox without recognizing that it could very well mean a return to the wilderness if the front office doesn't get it right. Like you said, betting on Herro or, god forbid, taking on Lavine is just so not it if you're trading De'Aaron Fox. You better be getting back young talent with considerable upside and a raft of picks to help you take swings in future drafts in the hopes that you might eventually get back a player of Fox's caliber.
There is definitely truth in this... but it's also the nature of the current NBA. Less about watching the game on the court and more excitement about potential trades and playing fantasy league GM. Of course it's thrilling to think of the haul that Fox can bring, but we will likely end up disappointed when it goes down, and even more disappointed in 5 years after we tally up the so-so players we got with all of our draft capital. I'm not blameless here...
 

This is sort of the crux of the problem with Fox right? He's far and away the closest thing the Kings have to a "1a" sort of star, but the excuses have been he's never had enough help to get over the hump. But he's also never shown he's a SGA/Luka tier of player either. Not many guys have a 1B as good as Domas either and it's still seemingly not enough.
His value would likely be higher and we’d maybe have more wins if he didn’t have broken fingers. This all just sucks and I’m tired of this joke of an organization
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Good luck with that “haul” you speak of. Sacramento has never been allowed to have that either
Silver has it out for us but most of our injuries are self inflicted.

Let's wait and see. I think we were pretty smart not to do anything that would hamstring this team for the rest of the decade because this day was always at least a coin flip from happening. We can probably do much better than the Cousins deal here and if we don't move the rest of the core we should be ok.
 
These stars make all these promises and say they wanna win but it’s really about money. I hope we don’t do a damn thing unless it’s the best for this team smh why make any of this *** public
But it's not really about money anymore in the NBA. Fox will get paid where ever he is and I don't think he cares too much about off the court earnings (although his curry shoe deal suggests maybe not...) I think more than anything, this is Fox feeling like we've hit the ceiling with this current team (even if they are competitive for a few years) and it will take a painful rebuild to get much higher.
 

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
I think we will just take both picks. Among many others.
Fortunately, the Spurs have a decent number of future firsts that are not their own: Only counting pick that are guaranteed to convey, they have ATL 2025, ATL 2027, MIN 2031, and a complicated swap that basically gives them the best of DAL/MIN/SAS in 2030. This is kind of important, because we would imagine that if they're running Wemby/Fox out there, that their own draft picks won't be worth very much.
 
https://airalamo.com/san-antonio-spurs-draft-picks-2025-2026-through-2031-full-list

Spurs have a nice raft of picks over just the next two years, plenty for us to use ourselves or trade
Spurs
Fox
McLaughlin

Kings
Castle
Vassell
2025 Atlanta's first-round pick (unprotected, guaranteed to convey)
2025 Spurs own first-round pick
2026 Atlanta's first-round pick (the Spurs can swap their pick with Atlanta's)
2027 Spurs own first-round pick
2027 Atlanta's first-round pick (unprotected, guaranteed to convey)
2028 Boston's first-round pick (top-1 protected; the Spurs reserve the right to swap their pick with Boston's)
2030 Better of Minnesota's first-round pick (top-1 protected; the Spurs reserve the right to swap their pick with Minnesota's) or -Dallas' first-round pick (unprotected, guaranteed to convey)
2031 Remove Sacramento's first-round pick (the Spurs reserve the right to swap their pick with Sacramento's)
2031 Minnesota's first-round pick (unprotected, guaranteed to convey)

So 6 FRP and pick swaps
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
But it's not really about money anymore in the NBA. Fox will get paid where ever he is and I don't think he cares too much about off the court earnings (although his curry shoe deal suggests maybe not...) I think more than anything, this is Fox feeling like we've hit the ceiling with this current team (even if they are competitive for a few years) and it will take a painful rebuild to get much higher.
He has played a big part in getting us where we are right now in both good and bad. Do whatever is best for you kid, but doing it in the middle of a hot streak says something about him. To which again I say I think this was all engineered to go down in the middle of a slump.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Fortunately, the Spurs have a decent number of future firsts that are not their own: Only counting pick that are guaranteed to convey, they have ATL 2025, ATL 2027, MIN 2031, and a complicated swap that basically gives them the best of DAL/MIN/SAS in 2030. This is kind of important, because we would imagine that if they're running Wemby/Fox out there, that their own draft picks won't be worth very much.
For sure. I think the play is to get the two best young pieces they have (not counting Wemby, obviously), matching salary, and all the picks we can muster. Then flip a pick or two along with Huerter and Lyles (an unfortunate casualty to be rid of that POS Paul) for Cam and Sharpe.

Hopefully that MFer Paul doesn't represent anyone else above.
 
The timing is AWFUL
I agree the timing is awful but you absolutely have to trade him now. You get what you can and build from there. I actually think there's more room for Monk to grow. And Ellis obviously. This is one way to relieve our guard glut.

I know it's bad but I actually think it will turn out ok. You have to get a lottery pick out of this in whatever package. Or at least a couple fist rounders, but some great players. You're not going to get a star back and I'd argue we wouldn't want one. Out team has a lot of talent.
 
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It may not be enough, but I'm in general agreement with these tweets. Kings fans love raking their own star players over the coals for being less than the best in the NBA, while believing in lesser talent on the roster to accept a role on the team they can't possibly fulfill in the absence of that star player. The Kings were never going anywhere with Peja Stojakovic as their 1a, but that didn't stop Kings fans from thinking he would be better served without Chris Webber ahead of him in the pecking order. Even before Webber's injury, there was a contingent of fans who couldn't wait to run him out of town.

I don't know if it's the inferiority complex that comes from being a fan of a small market franchise or what, but ultimately, you're going nowhere in the NBA playoffs without a 1a level talent, regardless of what "tier" of star they happen to be. Fox's production is not easily replaceable. It's just not. Nor is the pressure he puts on the defense with his speed and the skill with which he can attack the basket.

I suppose if Monte is able to pull off another Haliburton-for-Sabonis type of deal, it's possible that the Kings will come away from a potential Fox trade with a player of equal value that will keep them competitive come playoff time, but those kinds of deals are usually very rare in the NBA. There's a reason so many celebrated the Haliburton-Sabonis deal after the dust settled. It was a win for both franchises, and there are so few occasions where that happens. I have no confidence that such a deal would present itself once again. Good young players and picks are coming back in any hypothetical Fox deal, but you're not getting back a player of Fox's talent level that will help you make the playoffs this season.

It doesn't necessarily mean the Kings would be completely out of the playoffs mix, but a Fox trade before the deadline probably signals a look ahead to the future, with either a potential retooling in the off-season, or a full-scale rebuild if the team really flames out in the second half of this season.
Our roster is very young. Lots of top end players make deep runs in the 30-35 age range. We have a FO that has a solid draft track record. If we load up on picks and rookie-contract players we will be fine.

Lots of people have immediate knee jerk “REBUILD!!” reaction but it’s not warranted, not yet at least. Same people were calling for it before MB got fired and saying the roster was broken, not just underperforming. They were wrong and DC is proving that.

our biggest impediment to growing and improving is a lack of draft picks. If we fix that or get rookie scale players (because CBA) we are in a good position. Domas is getting better every year, Ellis is a stud, Keegan is returning to form, Monk we have for a while, etc. Domas is closer to a 1A player than we give him credit for and the idea of blowing everything up in a quest for drafting the next LeBron is a terrible strategy

“CWebb vs Peja” was always silly.
 
Over on NBA reddit spurs fans say Castle is untouchable and they'll wait for Fox in 2026.
Yeah Fox really ***** us by basically leaking he wants to be a Spur in '26 no matter what.

We can't really compare Fox's value to what players like Bridges brought in because of this.

Unless Monte lucks out and we get at least two delusional non-Spurs GM's thinking they can "sell Fox on staying"..... THEN it gets interesting.

Either way, I'll be rooting for Fox to fail and fall off wherever he ends up!
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Yeah Fox really ***** us by basically leaking he wants to be a Spur in '26 no matter what.

We can't really compare Fox's value to what players like Bridges brought in because of this.

Unless Monte lucks out and we get at least two delusional non-Spurs GM's thinking they can "sell Fox on staying"..... THEN it gets interesting.

Either way, I'll be rooting for Fox to fail and fall off wherever he ends up!
It’s not like we didn’t know Bridges wanted to go to the Knicks though either
 
Yeah Fox really ***** us by basically leaking he wants to be a Spur in '26 no matter what.

We can't really compare Fox's value to what players like Bridges brought in because of this.

Unless Monte lucks out and we get at least two delusional non-Spurs GM's thinking they can "sell Fox on staying"..... THEN it gets interesting.

Either way, I'll be rooting for Fox to fail and fall off wherever he ends up!
Here's the thing. The stars still end up getting the massive package in return, because you cannot replace their value. Everyone and their mom knew AD was going to the Lakers and look at that haul. Harden purposefully got fat and the Nets still dealt 4 FRP, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to get it done. Mikal had one team on his books and the Knicks still paid 5 FRP.

You cannot go explain to Wemby "Hey man, just wait a year and a half and we'll go get Fox for you." That's a surefire way to pee off the guy next up in the NBA and get him already thinking about his next destination. The NBA guys don't think that way; if Fox is available, he helps us win games now. Not a year and a half from now.