It wasn’t long ago when dynamic point guard De’Aaron Fox was the only member of the Sacramento Kings unavailable in trade talks. This has now changed according to recent reports, which indicate that the Kings are now ready to listen to offers for Fox.
ESPN’s NBA insiders Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst recently discussed Fox during their The Hoop Collective podcast, and MacMahon mentioned that his sources are telling him that Sacramento could be open to trading the 24-year-old.
“It was widely reported going into the season: De’Aaron Fox is off the table,” MacMahon said. “I’ve heard a lot of smoke that might not be the case at this point.”
The Kings moving on from Fox certainly wouldn’t be so shocking now as it could have been just several months ago. The Kentucky product struggled with injuries in 2021-22 while also seeing his numbers dip across the board. He is averaging 21.3 points per game compared to 25.2 points last season, and 5.0 assists per contest are the lowest he has had since his rookie year. Fox has been shooting poorly from the deep as well, making just 26.3 percent of his three-pointers.
De’Aaron Fox’s poor performances are especially worrying for the Kings, considering they handed him a five-year, $163 million deal last season. Trading him would get what is now perceived more and more as a bad contract off their books while also netting them necessary draft capital and players to continue their rebuild. Another thing working for the franchise, in this case, is that they have proper cover for Fox, having drafted talented guards Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell in the last two drafts.
