Last week, months of reporting by our own Sam Amick came to fruition as the Sacramento Kings became open to trading their franchise point guard, De’Aaron Fox. We all immediately started trying to connect the dots with the whispery rumors of his desire to play with Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
Well, we don’t have to connect the dots any further. The Kings are moving Fox to the Spurs in a three-team deal that brings Zach LaVine to Sacramento with a gaggle of draft picks, and Kevin Huerter will head to the Chicago Bulls along with a couple role players.
Can confirm Zach LaVine lands with the Kings, and De’Aaron Fox gets his wish by going to the Spurs, in this deal. Other parts, per source…
* Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Tre Jones to the Bulls.
* Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs
More to come, at @TheAthletic
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 3, 2025
This is the type of trade that elevates the Spurs in the Western Conference, as they attempt to build a winner around Wembanyama, their 21-year-old, history-making phenom. It gets the Bulls more flexibility, returns their own 2025 first-rounder and helps them move LaVine’s contract off the books. And the Kings get to remain competitive while restocking their draft picks to bet against other teams between now and 2031.
Let’s bust out the red pen and throw some grades down on this trade:
San Antonio Spurs receive De’Aaron Fox, Jordan MacLaughlin
Before we examine Fox’s fit with San Antonio, let’s recognize what the Spurs gave up to get this deal done. It took “four” first-round picks, two second-rounders and some solid role players to make this trade happen. They didn’t have to offer up guys like Keldon Johnson or Devin Vassell, so they maintain depth and flexibility. Collins is a quality big man to have in the rotation, but he’s replaceable. Jones is a really solid point guard option, maybe even capable of becoming as good as his brother, Tyus, in the future. But the Spurs now have Fox and Chris Paul in the rotation for the rest of this season, and Sidy Cissoko is a project who might be a rotation guy someday.
That’s a big trade package to give up when you consider all the picks, but you have to assume Fox is 1) re-signing there and 2) more than capable of justifying three first-round picks. The trade picture just gets a little skewed by the Dallas Mavericks getting only one first-round pick for Luka Dončić in addition to 31-year-old All-NBA big man Anthony Davis.
But let’s get back to Fox’s fit on the Spurs. We recently explored the idea when I wrote about a potential fit with the Spurs and four other teams. Here is how I think Wemby’s growth can be impacted:
But he’s just 21 years old and has a long time until he hits his scoring peak. In the meantime, an efficient and dangerous scorer like Fox fits perfectly. We know he’s already one of the most clutch players in the league, so it adds a great dynamic in close games. He’s a big-time threat in pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop plays. And having him play off of Wemby’s gravity will create the best version of Fox we’ve ever seen.
Fox is an ideal type of point guard because he can make you pay in every way on offense. He can also be super aggressive trying to force turnovers on defense with the comfort of Wembanyama being the backline defender, rather than Domantas Sabonis. And Fox is still a killer in the clutch, so Wembanyama gets to pick his spots in growing more into his superstardom. The Spurs gave up quite a bit of draft capital to make this happen, but a healthy Fox-Wemby combination is going to kick some butt for a long time.
Grade: A-
Victor Wembanyama was already a basketball phenom at 15 — and the Spurs took notice
Sacramento Kings receive Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-rounders, three second-rounders
Let’s get into the draft picks before we get into the Bulls reunion with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. The first-round picks are not exactly three first-round picks. The 2025 first from the Charlotte Hornets is top-14 protected. Then, it becomes two second-round picks in 2026 and 2027. Unless the team with the fourth-worst record in the NBA goes on a big second-half run this season, I’m guessing that 2025 first-rounder won’t go to the Kings. I’ll assume the 2027 first from San Antonio isn’t a lottery pick, but you can still find value in the second half of the first round. But by then, Wembanyama will be 23 and potentially completing an MVP season. The 2031 first-rounder from Minnesota is interesting because you never know what the Wolves might end up being in 2031.
Of course, the highly coveted future pick the Wolves owed the LA Clippers forever was supposed to be one of the best assets in the NBA when they received it with Sam Cassell for Marko Jarić in 2005. It ended up conveying in 2012 and resulting in Austin Rivers (10th overall) — seriously. But that pick should be something the Kings can leverage, along with the second-round selections in some trade flotsam down the road.
As for the basketball players going to Sacramento now, we have LaVine and DeRozan teaming up on the wings again. Instead of Nikola Vučević back there behind them, it’s an upgrade with Sabonis. Is that enough to keep this team moving in the right direction under interim coach Doug Christie, who took over for Mike Brown midseason? In the West, you can’t consider that a definite. The Kings are currently 10th in the West and battling the Golden State Warriors and … you guessed it … Frank Stallone the Spurs for the Play-In Tournament. San Antonio is just two games behind the Kings for 10th.
LaVine will be able to score well and can play off DeRozan. We’ve seen that happen. He’ll also be a weapon Sabonis can utilize in the dribble-handoff action they love to run with their wings. LaVine looks healthy this season, and his contract is obviously no longer untradable. He’s on the books for $43 million now and $46 million next season, then has a $48.9 million player option in 2026-2027.
LaVine is putting up 24 points per game with a career-best 63.7 percent true shooting mark. The biggest problem for this current iteration of the Kings is they don’t really have a table-setter at the guard position. DeRozan can do it some — so can LaVine. They run a lot through Sabonis, but this could be a massive issue the rest of the season. And LaVine will not help their defense at all.
Grade: B-
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Chicago Bulls receive Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones, first-round pick
Remember when we all thought you couldn’t trade LaVine a year ago? Well, you couldn’t then, but the Bulls just managed to get a first-round pick back from San Antonio while getting out of his big contract. The Bulls owed a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick to the Spurs for the DeRozan trade in 2021. Thanks to this deal, they get that back, which prevents them from sweating lottery night and the rest of the season. They continue to move slowly toward a youth movement while remaining competitive enough in the East to stay in the Play-In mix.
Huerter is off the books after next season at roughly $18 million. That’s also the case for Collins, who will make $18 million next season, too. Jones will be an unrestricted free agent now, so maybe they have to worry about him not wanting to stick around in Chicago if the Bulls won’t be good. He’s, at worst, one of the best backup point guards in the league and might be capable of starting on some decent teams. If they re-sign Jones this offseason, I like the trade more for them, but the market and his priorities will dictate how that goes. The Bulls were in a pretty inflexible point a year ago, but they now seem to have a lot more options in shaping their future. Chicago is finally making up for years of mediocre visions.
Grade: B
(Top photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
