SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 25: De’Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings reacts after a call … [+]
The time is ticking in Sacramento for the Kings to put together a consistently winning product before it’s too late. De’Aaron Fox, the Kings’ star guard and face of the franchise since 2017, made as clear of a statement as you can related to his long-term future earlier this week.
“For me, it has all to do with just the team, the organization where are we going,” Fox said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “I want to make sure that we’re in a position to try to win in the future because that’s ultimately what I want to do.”
If Fox makes All-NBA honors this season, he will become eligible for a supermax extension with Sacramento worth a whopping $345 million over five years. However, if Fox fails in his lengthy pursuit, it will become a four-year, $229 million offer from Sacramento this summer.
Fox has yearned for a winning situation in Sacramento, appearing only once in the NBA postseason in his career. One of the more electric point guards in the Association, Fox can be a bonafide top scoring option for a title contender, but is that best suited as a No. 2 in a different situation?
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When he declined an early chance to sign with Sacramento, many believed it was all a financial one due to potential supermax eligibility. Now, that calculus has changed thanks to Fox’s comments with Green this week.
It’s clear Fox knows he can earn a lucrative contract anywhere, and the time is now to put some internal pressure on the front office to make another win-now move.
“Are we looking like we’re continuing to get better year after year and are we going to be able to compete at a high level?” Fox said. “If we can show that this year, [I’d] sign an extension now. If not, I obviously still have another year, but that’s where my mindset is. At some point will we be able to compete for a championship or really compete at a high level for a long time?”
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 22: Head coach Mike Brown of the Sacramento Kings talks to … [+]
Sacramento currently sits under .500 with a 13-14 record, even after making another eye-opening acquisition this offseason bringing aboard DeMar DeRozan via sign-and-trade. Add in the one-two punch of Fox and Domantas Sabonis, plus the emergence of young wing Keegan Murray, Sacramento has shot itself in the foot more often than not when it comes to their current positioning within the loaded Western Conference.
The talent is there, as is the coaching with Mike Brown’s own extension, but something just isn’t clicking all together right now in Sacramento. Even the advanced metrics point to a rosier outlook than what’s currently being presented in the win-loss column, too.
The Kings’ five-man lineup combination of Fox, Malik Monk, Murray, DeRozan, and Sabonis has the best offensive rating scoring 125.5 points per 100 possessions. Sacramento’s new starting lineup also has an impressive net rating of +9.2, which ranks fourth in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets.
As Fox points out, he would love to retire in Sacramento, but they need to become a serious title contender for that to happen.
“I love the city, I love being here, I’ve raised my family here,” Fox told Green and Davis. “We got the kids’ grandparents here; I would love to be here and retire here. How many people can say they played in one organization for their whole career? I want to be a part of that select few people but at the end of the day I also want to win.”
Fox is indirectly telling Sacramento general manager Monte McNair to make a move before the February 6th trade deadline, and they have definitely been trying.
The Kings are one of the more active teams in the marketplace right now, a league source told Forbes Sports, and the same package from the offseason is being presented in exploratory talks: Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and draft compensation.
Will any rebuilding team bite on that type of return package in exchange for a win-now wing? For the Kings, keep an eye on the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards as potential trade partners. Sacramento has registered legitimate interest in Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Kyle Kuzma, a league source confirmed to Forbes.
For salary-matching purposes, the aforementioned combination of Huerter and Lyles is a legal deal if one to occur between Brooklyn or Washington. With an already lethal offensive attack, Finney-Smith stands out as the most logical match because of his defensive profile being a much-needed add into their current rotation.
If the Kings are unable to get back on track soon, righting the ship for another postseason appearance, it will in turn diminish Fox’s All-NBA chances. Fox is averaging 26.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while carrying a 57.5 true shooting percentage.
Say the situation were to continue going south for the Kings and they miss out on even making the Western Conference Play-In as a top-1o seed, how will Fox react? Will he ask out and seek greener pastures this offseason? If so, Sacramento would be able to net a significant trade haul in return for Fox, but what would happen next for key veterans like Sabonis, DeRozan and Monk?
Fox’s comments have lit an accelerant on this situation as one to monitor immediately before the trade deadline, plus the remaining months ahead before a looming extension offer from Sacramento this summer.
There are certainly more questions than answers right now with the Kings, and Fox is monitoring it closely. Rival teams have begun to monitor Fox’s looming situation in Sacramento as well.
For the Kings to keep the bedrock of their organization around, it’s time to push those proverbial chips into the middle of the table.
“I’m coming up on those [prime] years so yeah, they know I’m going to give all I got but at the end of the day, the organization also has to give all they’ve got,” Fox said. “So that’s where we are right now.”
