NBA: Reacting to ESPN’s ‘Top 25 players under 25’ list
By Alex Saenz
NBA players over-ranked by ESPN
De’Aaron Fox (#6)
De’Aaron Fox enjoyed somewhat of a breakout season as a sophomore, as the Sacramento Kings ran their way to the nine-seed before Luke Walton spoiled the party. Two years later, Fox has made another mini-leap (at least according to the national media), capturing two Player of the Week honors and leading his team to a couple random hot streaks.
In the past 40 games, he’s averaging over 26 points on 48/33/72 shooting.
That said, I believe he still has too many holes in his game to be the best or even second-best player on a good team. While the jumper is vastly improved, opponents still scoot under screens with Fox; he doesn’t carry much off-ball gravity. You’d like the free-throw percentage to be a few ticks higher.
As Zach Lowe and others have noted, the defense is a big problem. I also don’t think he’s a very good passer, at least not right now. Fox hasn’t displayed a high level of craft in pick-and-roll, often hunting his own shot instead of dissecting a defense.
It’s not the end of the world – nobody can keep him out of the paint – but you’d like to see fewer plays like this where opportunities go by the wayside.