4 De’Aaron Fox trade packages that actually make sense

Four teams that could trade for De’Aaron Fox.

The first rumblings that De’Aaron Fox could be traded by the Sacramento Kings this season surfaced only a month ago. A week after those initial reports, Sacramento fired head coach Mike Brown, replaced him with Doug Christie, and immediately went on a seven-game winning streak. As the Kings have come back down to earth lately, Fox’s future is again under the spotlight, and this time he’s fully ready to push himself to a new destination.

The Kings are expected to open trade talks on Fox ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The decision comes after Fox has refused to sign a lucrative long-term extension with the club that would keep him in Sacramento beyond the 2025-2026 season when his current deal expires. Fox has a destination in mind, according to reports, but is open to going to any team. His preferred destination is not the Los Angeles Lakers despite the fact that his agent is LeBron James’ long-time confidant Rich Paul.

There are plenty of teams that could use a dynamic lead guard like Fox. The 27-year-old is averaging 25.2 points, 6.2 assists, and five rebounds per game this season. He’s carrying a 29 percent usage rate with 56.6 percent true shooting, which has been hampered by a poor shooting season from three-point range (32.4 percent). Here are four deals for Fox that could make sense.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are widely speculated to be the team Fox wants to go to. If San Antonio’s interest is mutual, the Spurs have a big collection of future draft picks and matching salary that they can offer to Sacramento.

In this offer, Sacramento gets back Chicago’s top-10 protected first-round pick in 2025 (which is top-8 protected in 2026 and 2027), the Atlanta Hawks’ unprotected 2027 pick, and one of San Antonio’s own picks in 2028. The Spurs also have a 2031 Wolves pick, the Hawks’ unprotected pick in 2025, and all of their own picks. How many picks would San Antonio be willing to deal for Fox? That’s the only question.

The Spurs desperately need a player like Fox next to Victor Wembanyama. His rim pressure and on-ball creation would be a huge lift when Wemby is on the bench, and his clutch scoring would be a boost for a Spurs team that is No. 23 in clutch net-rating. San Antonio can be picky about its preferred co-star next to Wembanyama. Will they shoot higher than Fox? Fox’s lack of spot-up shooting (32.6 percent on spot-ups this season) is concerning. The Spurs are in the driver’s seat here.

Houston Rockets

Fox grew up just outside of Houston. He starred for Cypress Lakes High School in Katy, Texas and headlined the Houston Hoops grassroots team on Nike’s EYBL circuit before going off to Kentucky for college.

The Rockets have gone from a promising young team to a legit contender in the Western Conference overnight. Houston improved from 22 wins to 41 wins over the last two seasons, and this year currently hold the No. 2 seed in the West at 32-14 overall. The Rockets rank No. 23 in halfcourt offense, per Cleaning the Glass, but make up for it by forcing turnovers on defense, generating extra possessions on the offensive glass, and being one of the league’s most efficient teams in transition. The next step for the Rockets is finding the straw the stirs the drink against a set defense. Fox is a wonderful fit to be that player.

The Rockets have a ton of future draft picks and young players they can include in the deal. Reed Sheppard, last season’s No. 3 overall pick, makes a lot of sense in this trade as someone the Kings should want. Houston also has Phoenix’s unprotected 2027 pick, which is possibly the most tantalizing asset on the market. If I’m the Kings, I want Cam Whitmore in addition to Sheppard. The Rockets have been so excellent this year that maybe they should just keep the same team through the deadline, and then reassess the roster in the summer. It will be fascinating to see if Houston would push its chips in already.

Orlando Magic

The Magic are a rising team in the East with an obvious need for a lead guard. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are just about the best young duo in the NBA, but they’re tasked with a huge creation burden without much shooting around them. The ideal fit in Orlando would be a better shooter than Fox: the Magic are dead-last in three-point shooting this year at 30.7 percent as a team. From a talent perspective, though, the fit is undeniable.

Orlando has all of its own picks to trade, Denver’s 2025 pick, and a bunch of bonus second rounders. They can put in enough picks to make this work if they really want to.

Miami Heat

Everyone knows Jimmy Butler wants to leave the Heat for Phoenix. Will Fox’s addition on the trade market grease the wheels and deliver Miami the younger star they covet?

Miami can send 2029 and 2031 first-round picks. They can trade Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez, and Pelle Larsson as appealing young players, and Terry Rozier as salary filler. The screenshot above is just a rough sketch that works salary-wise without the picks.

Of course, if Beal is involved, he has to approve the trade because of his no-trade clause. Would Sacramento even want Beal? If the picks and young players coming back are sweet enough, maybe they can be talked into it.