The Sacramento Kings are reportedly exploring the possibility of trading their All-Star guard, De’Aaron Fox, before the trade deadline on February 6. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Sacramento is willing to talk to other organizations about a potential De’Aaron Fox trade.
JUST IN: The Sacramento Kings are expected to open up talks to potentially deal All-Star De’Aaron Fox ahead of Feb. 6 trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. There will be plenty of suitors, but it’s believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency.
However, De’Aaron Fox wants to be traded to a specific team. According to Zach Lowe, De’Aaron Fox’s preferred destination is the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio is indeed the team I hear most from sources, and one that makes a ton of sense. One angle here: Kings just fired their coach, clear “make playoffs this season” governing approach. How does a Fox deal fit into that if the return ends up pick-heavy?
Spurs’ offense
Fox’s desire to join San Antonio is confusing because of their offensive system. The Spurs have run a ball-movement offense for the past two-plus seasons. They have ranked eighth in passes per game, averaging 292.7 per game.
Consequently, Spurs players spend a ton of time off the ball. Victor Wembanyama had the ball at the top of the key with eleven minutes remaining in the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets. He took a couple of steps towards the right wing before passing the ball to Chris Paul.
After passing the ball, Victor immediately set a screen for Paul. Chris went over the screen and immediately passed the ball to Devin Vassell, standing near the left wing. As Paul passed the ball, Victor ran towards the wide-open basket. As a result, Vassell passed the ball to Victor for a dunk.
During this position, Paul, Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan were standing behind the three-point line for a large portion of the play. Unfortunately, the worst aspect of De’Aaron Fox’s skill set is three-point shooting.
He is a career 33.3% shooter from behind the arc on 4.6 shots per game. Furthermore, De’Aaron Fox spent the past two seasons playing under Mike Brown, who ran a ball movement system.
Sacramento averaged 299.3 passes per game during Brown’s tenure, fifth in the league. Sacramento’s offense was the catalyst behind De’Aaron Fox taking 32.7% of his field attempts from behind the arc, averaging 6.4 per game.
Under Brown, De’Aaron Fox’s three-point percentage was 34.5%. San Antonio could hypothetically reduce the amount of time De’Aaron Fox spends standing behind the three-point line by having him cut to the basket. The Spurs have been in the top ten in cuts per game over the past two-plus seasons, averaging 8.6 per outing.
Unfortunately, Fox has averaged less than one cut per game. Therefore, his desire to join the Spurs is stupid unless the organization decides to make drastic changes to the offensive system to cater to his skill set.
De’Aaron Fox’s strengths
In the half court, De’Aaron Fox excels as a pick-and-roll ball handler. Since the 2016 season, he has spent 38.1% of his offensive possessions in this play type, averaging 8.4 points per game. In this play type, he is averaging 7.8 points, shooting 46.3% on 6.4 attempts per game.
Unfortunately, San Antonio doesn’t put a huge emphasis on running pick-and-rolls. Since De’Aaron Fox entered the league, the Spurs have been 15th in the play tape, averaging 19. 4 Possessions per game.
Given the evidence presented above, it is hard to see San Antonio switching their offense. Consequently, De’Aaron Fox will likely be in a similar situation to the one he had lived through in Sacramento over the past three seasons.
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