The San Antonio Spurs traded for De'Aaron Fox last season, and the deal with the Sacramento Kings remains one of the biggest moves in franchise history.
Despite all of their successes, the San Antonio Spurs are not known as a team that makes flashy moves. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, David Robinson, and Victor Wembanyama were all drafted by the team. Kawhi Leonard was a draft-night addition, and key supporting players like Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and Keldon Johnson were all snapped up late in the first round.
With the exception of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, key franchise players are almost never picked up in free agency or the draft. The only recent exception is De'Aaron Fox.
Last season, the Spurs traded away Zach Collins, Sidy Cissoko, Tre Jones, and five mostly-protected draft picks for Fox. This season, the Spurs have finally blossomed into a winning team, and Fox is to thank for that.
While Fox asked for a trade to San Antonio, his agent insisted that it was the last resort, and Fox wanted to finish his career with the Sacramento Kings.
Rich Paul Reveals Trade Stance
Picked fifth overall by the Kings in 2017, Fox was expected to be the franchise's point guard. In 2023, he finally led Sacramento to the playoffs, and the team was expected to build on that success.
Instead, they added veterans and moved on from their "Beam Team" identity. Fox quickly grew tired of the dysfunction, causing him to make a tough choice and demand a trade.
"He never wanted to leave that team," explained Rich Paul. "I get the reputation that, 'Oh, if you sign, then he's going to try to move you to a better market or bigger team, whatever the case may be.' That was one of the things he's like, 'Rich, you know, I really want to see this thing through here in Sacramento because they drafted me.' And he liked the ownership group, et cetera."
Paul, true to his reputation, quickly saw the direction the Kings were headed in and convinced his client to change his tune. The Spurs and Orlando Magic were the two best fits, and Fox decided he would prefer to play next to Wembanyama.
"With that being said, he trusted me to be able to present to him places that I thought made a lot of sense for him going forward in the future," Paul added. "Let's look at these teams, Orlando, San Antonio, teams that really needed a point guard but also had some other key pieces that he would fit right into and be able to catapult. So ultimately, we landed on San Antonio. And San Antonio saw it as well. But again, when you talk about they're still looking at culture, timeline. You're coming in here next to Wemby."
Paul went on to explain that Fox was less concerned with having a star role and was more interested in impacting a winning team.
While Fox is no longer the "franchise player" he once was, he's finding unprecedented team success in his first season with the Spurs. The Kings, meanwhile, remain bottom-feeders. It's not hard to blame Fox for finally asking out, especially as the Kings' front office was quick to move away from the players and culture that gave them a brief window of success.