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De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
De’Aaron Fox could be on the move ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline. The Sacramento Kings guard will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. He has reportedly informed the franchise that he will not re-sign with them.
According to Chris Haynes, Fox’s preferred destination is the San Antonio Spurs. The speedy guard is a Texas native and wants to play in his hometown. He would form an intriguing partnership with budding superstar Victor Wembanyama.
San Antonio has a slew of future draft assets to help build a trade package. However, their limited talent pool of players may make a deal tougher to figure out. As such, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports has proposed a three-team deal via X, that could help pry Fox away from the Kings. The trade looks like this:
Spurs receive: De’Aaron Fox
Kings receive: John Collins, Collin Sexton, two first-round picks
Jazz receive: Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, two first-round picks, two second-round picks.
“It’s worth weighing 3-way scenarios because I don’t love what the Spurs can offer if making the playoffs would still be Sacramento’s priority over retooling for all picks and young guys,” O’Connor reasoned in a follow-up post on X. “(The) Spurs have enough tradable firsts to make this clean two-team deal tho. We’ll see.”
Fox is enjoying a strong season in Sacramento. He’s averaging 25.2 points, 5 rebounds and 6.2 assists while shooting 46.8% from the field.
De’Aaron Fox Has ‘Massive’ Market
With the news that Sacramento will engage in trade discussions for Fox, he has quickly emerged as one of the premier targets ahead of the trade deadline. Multiple teams will view the young guard as a potential upgrade at the point guard position.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Fox has leapfrogged Jimmy Butler to become the most sought-after talent in the NBA.
“I’m told the San Antonio Spurs, according to league sources, are De’Aaron Fox’s preferred destination and San Antonio is among the interested teams in Fox,” Charania said. “This is someone that has a massive market right now. He’s jumped from the top of the trade landscape ahead of the February 6 NBA trade deadline.”
With a week left until the trade deadline, Fox’s situation could rapidly change. However, it will be interesting to see what teams try to trade for him, considering his desire to play in San Antonio.
Kings Want ‘Win Now Players’ in A Fox Trade
During a Jan. 29 episode of ESPN’s First Take, Charania reported that Sacramento would want ‘win now’ talent in return for Fox.
“The Kings, so far in conversations with all those teams, they’ve said they want win-now players,” Charania said. “They want draft capital as well. This is a massive domino. De’Aaron Fox is in the prime of his career. He’s a max contract, no-brainer.”
San Antonio would likely need to add a third team to the deal in order to provide ‘win-now’ talent. The only player on their current roster who fits that bill is 39-year-old Chris Paul. As such, a straight-up deal between the two teams could be difficult to navigate.
Of course, things could get easier if the Kings accept a rebuild. They already have Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis. A package with Stephon Castle would give the Kings a young core to build around in the coming years. However, taking that route would likely spell the end of Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento.
The Kings have some tough decisions to make, and the clock is already ticking.
Adam Taylor is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns for Heavy. He has also written for CelticsBlog, USA Today, Yardbarker and FanSided. Adam has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor
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