DeAaron Fox

How NBA experts graded Kings' trade of De'Aaron Fox to Spurs

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The De'Aaron Fox era officially is over in Sacramento after the Kings traded their star point guard to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in the three-team deal with the Chicago Bulls.

In addition to acquiring star guard Zach LaVine from the Bulls, the Kings also received forward Sidy Cissoko from the Spurs, along with three first-round draft picks and three second-round draft picks. Sacramento sent shooting guard Kevin Huerter to the Bulls and guard Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs as part of the deal as well.

And San Antonio, of course, has a new star in Fox, whose future with the Kings became murky after he refused to sign a contract extension entering the 2024-25 NBA season.

So, when all was said and done, who won this blockbuster trade? NBA experts delivered their grades for the deal, and we've rounded them up below.

ESPN

Kings: B-minus

"Dare we consider the possibility the Kings will actually improve the rest of this season thanks to this trade? Fox and LaVine have rated similarly in most all-in-one stats this season, and Fox's play has been uneven over the 10 games since he returned from a brief absence because of a glute contusion in early January.

"In that span, Fox's usage rate has dipped to 23 percent of Sacramento's offense -- down from 29 percent before the injury -- and he's hitting just 44% percent of his 2-point attempts while also dealing with a sprain to his non-shooting right thumb. It's probably just a slump, but it's worrisome in the short term. …

"As effective as LaVine has been this season, adding him carries risk. The offer sheet LaVine famously signed with Sacramento as a restricted free agent in 2017 -- matched by Chicago -- contained protection for the team in case of issues with LaVine's left knee after he sustained an ACL tear in February 2017 while playing for the Timberwolves. Since then, LaVine had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in May 2022 and had season-ending foot surgery last February.

LaVine has managed to come back looking much like the high-flying star who was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022. For this trade to work, the Kings will need LaVine to keep that up over the remaining two seasons on his deal beyond 2024-25." - Kevin Pelton

Spurs: A-minus

"Kudos to the Spurs for getting Fox without sacrificing the ability to continue adding to their core. San Antonio managed to hang on to all of its young talent of note by sending back little-used backup center Zach Collins as the primary matching salary rather than guards Keldon Johnson or Devin Vassell, both parts of the Spurs' future. ...

"Over the past three seasons, Fox has been among the NBA's most dangerous pick-and-roll scorers. He ranks eighth among the 80 players with at least 500 attempts during that span by shooting an effective 54% in pick-and-roll situations, per Second Spectrum tracking. Opponents won't want to switch on Fox-[Victor] Wembanyama pick-and-rolls, giving both players advantages over their defenders, and traditional coverages probably will give Fox an avenue to either score or find his big man." - Pelton

Bulls: B-plus

"The Bulls' side of the trade is a bit more positive from the big-picture standpoint than in terms of the details. Moving LaVine while he's healthy and playing well is the kind of realistic self-assessment we haven't seen from Chicago in recent years, when the Bulls have resisted tearing down a roster with little upside.

"Trading LaVine might set up Chicago to make more trades involving veterans by Thursday's deadline, with center Nikola Vucevic a strong candidate while he's playing at a high level and Lonzo Ball in the final year of his contract. I also wonder whether Jones is rerouted before the deadline, as the Bulls still have a crowd in the backcourt without LaVine. ...

"Huerter is a 37.5 percent career 3-point shooter, so it's 2024-25 that is the outlier much more than 2022-23. Perhaps a change of scenery will help Huerter get back on track." - Pelton

The Athletic

Kings: B-minus

"... 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." - Zach Harper

Spurs: A-minus

"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 [Wembanyama is] 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." - Harper

Bulls: B

"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." - Harper

Yahoo Sports

Kings: A

"... The Kings got the second-best player in the trade — LaVine — who has grown to be incredibly underrated in recent years. LaVine was a frequent name linked to the Kings, until they made a move for another Bull — DeMar DeRozan — last offseason. The LaVine idea made more sense with Fox on the team. And given that LaVine often struggled next to DeRozan in Chicago, there will be once again some kinks to iron out.

"Having said that, the Kings also received a haul of draft compensation, meaning the collective return is pretty good. Acquiring a super-efficient, 24-point scorer, as well as numerous draft selections for the coming years, is a win in its own right, especially as their backs were against the wall in the Fox situation.

"It's impossible to go under a solid A on this one in terms of value received. If the Kings don't hit on some of those picks, however, that grade probably changes. But for now, the Kings came away looking good." - Morten Stig Jensen

Spurs: A-plus

"The Spurs walk away as major winners here. Yes, they give up significant draft equity, including a selection they received from Minnesota last year in the Rob Dillingham trade, which could have had some juice down the line. But considering they still have Castle and still have a chance at a high lottery pick via Atlanta, they really didn't relinquish anything of major substance.

"Fox steps in as the team's new point guard in what will likely be a dual role with Chris Paul, as the latter takes more of a back seat to the development of Fox and Victor Wembanyama. Fox and Wembanyama will prove a tough matchup right from the jump, especially offensively, and this addition could even lead to them making a real push in the 2025 playoffs.

"What a haul for the Spurs on this one." - Stig Jensen

Bulls: D-minus

"As for the Bulls ... well, if you have two winners in a three-team trade, surely there must be a loser.

"The Bulls got their own pick back, which the Spurs owned with top-10 protection, and not a whole lot else. Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter are all ... fine but thoroughly unspectacular. In many ways, the Bulls failed to get one solid asset back for the second-best shooting guard in team history. That's not surprising, given how abysmal they've been historically at negotiating with other teams.

"It makes all the sense in the world that the Kings and Spurs, both of whom have dealt with Chicago in recent years, wanted to include the Bulls in this arrangement to, well, fleece them. The only reason this isn't a full-blown F is due to the fact that the Bulls now control their own fate in the 2025 draft and just got a lot worse. Should Cooper Flagg fall their way, it would in large part be due to this trade." - Stig Jensen

CBS Sports

Kings: D

"In fairness to the Kings, Fox put them a difficult position. The whole league knew he wanted to go to San Antonio. That limited the offers other teams were willing to make. Getting fair value back for Fox may not have been plausible. Fine.

"But, Kings, what are we doing here? What's the actual goal? Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan played parts of three seasons together in Chicago. The Bulls went 81-75 with both on the court. That's a bit less than a 43-win pace over a full season. Yes, I understand that 43 wins would be the third-best Kings season since 2006, but that doesn't make it something to aspire towards. ...

"So yes, the Kings turned a low-end All-Star ball-handler into a low-end All-Star ball-handler and several first-round picks. It's just that the low-end All-Star ball-handler they got is far riskier than the one they had, the picks they got back weren't especially valuable, and more than anything, this trade shows a complete and utter lack of direction and ambition in Sacramento. Even if Fox's value was compromised by his desire to land in San Antonio, moving a player of his caliber was a chance for the Kings to reimagine their team in some significant way. Instead, they chose to recreate an Eastern Conference Play-In team. The Spurs just fleeced them for the second time in less than a year." - Sam Quinn

Spurs: A

"Forget about Fox, himself for a moment. Think about what the Spurs still have right now:

  • All eight players that have played at least 500 minutes for them this season.
  • All seven of their first-round picks since 2019 that were still on the roster entering this season: Stephon Castle, Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson.
  • All three of the unprotected Atlanta Hawks first-round picks they controlled (two outright, one via swap).
  • All but one of their own tradable first-round picks.
  • Every single first-round swap they'd accumulated through previous trades.

"So right now, the Spurs not only have Wembanyama, the future face of the league, and Fox, a worthy All-Star sidekick for him, but they basically still have everything else they need to build a dynasty. All of their young talent. All of their cap flexibility while those young players are on below-market rookie-scale deals. Most of their draft capital." - Quinn

Bulls: D

"Remember how we just covered why your own first-round picks are important in trades? Well... that doesn't exactly apply to protected picks. Yes, the Bulls got their own 2025 first-round pick back from the Spurs, but that pick was top-eight protected. All it would have taken to keep that pick was more losing. The Bulls are in danger of giving that pick up, but mostly due to their own incompetence. This team can't even tank properly.

"That's what's so frustrating here from Chicago's perspective. They didn't materially gain anything out of LaVine's comeback season. They didn't have to trade for this pick back. If they'd done a better job of gutting the roster before this point, they wouldn't have been in danger of giving the pick away in the first place. They could have turned LaVine into an asset that they might not otherwise have had. The Bulls have been stuck in purgatory because they keep half-measuring these rebuilds. If they'd traded LaVine a month ago we wouldn't be having this conversation." - Quinn

The Sporting News

Kings: B-plus

"LaVine is having a tremendous year, shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from 3. Nobody doubts that he is a great player. The issue is his $43 million salary makes him slightly overpaid. That problem was mitigated by forcing the Bulls to take on Zach Collins' two-year, $34.8 million contract that's an albatross in and of itself. ...

"The picks here are the most interesting component for Sacramento. Three first-round picks sound amazing — until you start to break it down more closely. ...

"That totals out to one mediocre first-round pick, one wild-card first-round pick, one good second-rounder, and four wild-card second-rounders. That's still a pretty decent haul for a player in Fox who is right on the fringe of making the All-Star game every year but not solidly a top-25 player." - Stephen Noh

Spurs: B

"The Spurs had nine tradeable first-round picks that they could have moved. They sent four out in this deal, leaving them ample room to make another big trade if one becomes available. ...

"Fox isn't a perfect fit with Wembanyama. Ideally, the Spurs would want someone better than a career 32.2-percent 3-point shooter next to their big man. But that focuses too much on what Fox can't do rather than what he excels at. Fox can still put pressure on defenses with a killer mid-range shot. He's a very good driver and a solid facilitator. The pick-and-roll attack with him and Wembanyama is going to be very tough to stop. 

"Fox is also the winner of the 2023 Clutch Player of the Year award. Wembanyama should be the guy eventually, but Fox is going to give the Spurs a different look that they can go to at the end of games." - Noh

Bulls: C

"Last week, I had advised the Bulls to hold onto LaVine because the offers for him were going to be underwhelming. As usual, they did the opposite. Tre Jones is a very nice backup point guard who can't really scale up into an above-average starter. That's still not a bad player to have. 

"Kevin Huerter has had a nightmare season but has been a reliable shooter in the past. He could be a decent reclamation project for the Bulls and might be able to get flipped next season for some more draft assets when he is an expiring deal. ...

"The biggest part of this deal for the Bulls is that they get their 2025 pick back. They had almost zero risk of losing it this year, though. It was going to the Spurs if it fell outside of the top 10, which only had a 3.1-percent chance of happening if they had stayed as the ninth-worst team in the league." - Noh

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