NBA Trade Rumors: Should the Sacramento Kings shop De’Aaron Fox?
During the offseason, the Sacramento Kings were adamant about their belief about De’Aaron Fox as a foundational piece to the franchise. After all, why wouldn’t they be? Fox was coming off the best statistical season of his career in which he averaged 25 points, seven assists, and four rebounds per game.
The hope was that the Kings would be a playoff contender this season but that simply hasn’t been the case. And what has been more concerning is the fact that Fox has somewhat taken a step back in his game.
So far this season, Fox is averaging 21 points and five assists on just 26 percent shooting from 3-point range. And as the Kings continue to struggle as a team overall, whispers have begun to arise that perhaps Fox isn’t as untouchable via the trade market as originally believed.
Quite frankly, this isn’t an easy decision or discussion to have. On the surface, it would seem outrageous for the Kings to trade Fox. He’s just 24 years old and likely hasn’t even played his best basketball yet. At the same rate, during his five seasons with the Kings, Fox hasn’t really raised the ceiling for the team all that much, if at all.
Their win totals in the four complete seasons that Fox has played are 27, 39, 31, and 31. They haven’t made the playoffs during Fox’s tenure and are on pace to probably miss the playoffs again this year.
Apart from Fox, there is one other young talent that the Kings could theoretically hand over the keys to – Tyrese Haliburton.
I’m not exactly sure if that’s what this ultimately comes down to, but there’s a real chance that if the Kings are open to trade Fox, there would be a huge return on any deal – and one option could land Ben Simmons.
Despite his struggles, I don’t believe anyone thinks that Fox is a bust or will not continue to get better. The question is, has he run his course with the Kings? If so, perhaps it would be in the interest of both sides to get a deal done.
The Kings would get a great haul and could Haliburton and bigger role while getting pieces that could help this team continue to compete for a playoff spot this season or in the future.
The expectation still remains that the Kings aren’t going to trade Fox, but the fact that there are at least some whispers is not insignificant. At the very least, it’s something to keep an eye on.