Is De’Aaron Fox now on the table?

There have been rumors around the league that Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox may no longer be untouchable and may no be tradeable. During an episode of ESPN’s Tim Bontemps podcast ‘Our First Annual Friendsgiving’, Bontemps stated “I think it was widely going into the season, ‘De’Aaron Fox is off the table’. I’ve heard a lot of smoke that might not be the case at this point“.

So far during the 2021-22 NBA season, De’Aaron Fox has played pretty terrible. He has fallen very short of most people’s expectations. This season, Fox is putting up 21.3 points on a mediocre 45.5% from the field and a horrifying 26.3% from three. Along with his 21.3 points, Fox averages 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds. The Kings are currently on a 15 year playoff drought and are on the verge of making that a 16 year playoff drought as they are positioned 10th in the Western Conference with a record of 13-18.

Now you can blame this season’s bad start on Luke Walton and how he did not play Marvin Bagley lll at all. Walton was fired after starting the season with a record of 6-11. Alvin Gentry has since been hired and has a record of 8-9 as the Kings Head Coach this season. Now, as you can see, both Coach’s have losing records with the Kings this season. Sure, you can blame a lot on Luke Walton and congratulate Alvin Gentry on nearly having a 500. record as the Kings HC, but it is clear that you must put most of the blame on the players and how they are performing.

Fox is very athletic and has a lot of potential. He is arguably the fastest player in the whole league right now. Over Fox’s 5 season NBA career, he has shot the three-ball at a terrible 31.8%. This year it is a career-low 26.3%. Fox urgently needs to sort out his three-point shot, especially playing in this era where teams are putting up 30+ threes per night.

Fox is currently 24 but is set to turn 25 tomorrow (20th of December). He still has plenty of time left in the league, but I do not think he will be in a Kings jersey for much longer. Sacramento has drafted a point guard with their top pick in the NBA Draft 2 years in a row. These two players being 21 year-old Tyrese Haliburton and 23 year-old Davion Mitchell. Haliburton and Mitchell are both already quality point guards and the Kings could easily fill the role if Fox were to be traded. I think if Fox is to be traded, it would be good for the Kings as they could get quality talent out of Fox and then still have a great young starting point guard in Tyrese Haliburton or Davion Mitchell. It is now officially trade season, so it will be interesting to see whether any trade rumors ramp up involving De’Aaron Fox.