De’Aaron Fox Heads to Spurs, LaVine to the Kings in three-team trade 

The San Antonio Spurs acquired De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade that sent Bulls guard Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. 

This pairs Fox with Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul, while LaVine joins DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento.  

Tre Jones and Zach Collins leave the Spurs and head to Chicago, along with Sacramento King’s guard Kevin Huerter as part of the three-team deal. 

Before this trade, the Spurs appeared to be on track to be one of the top 10 seeded teams in the Western Conference, with Wemabanyama’s star play, the experience and high basketball IQ of Chris Paul, and the impressive performance of rookie Stephon Castle. Additionally, players like Devin Vassell, 14-year veteran Harrison Barnes, and Keldon Johnson have been very good pieces within the Spurs offense. 

The Spurs have been floating around a couple spots below the ninth and tenth seeds. But with the addition of De’Aaron Fox, they now have a boost that could help them secure a playoff spot come April. 

De’Aaron Fox, who was named an All-Star and awarded the Clutch Player of the Year in 2023, adds exceptional playmaking and scoring to the Spurs. Head Coach Greg Popovich will observe how the backcourt of Paul and Fox will play out along with the rest of the team. 

Not to mention, Fox was excited to join San Antonio when he first discovered that it was a trade destination for him.

“I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to come in and help a team win”, said De’Aaron Fox in a clipped segment of an interview posted on ESPN’s TikTok. The link to that is here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8YuBu8f/ 

Fox also said that in his trade request, he wanted Stephon Castle to stay and the Spurs were able to grant that request. 

LaVine is now a Sacramento King and pairs up with former Chicago Bull teammate DeMar DeRozan once again. Sacramento was also able to keep Domantas Sabonis in this deal as well. The Sacramento Kings are another team that can possibly be a play-in tournament team.

LaVine and DeRozan averaged a combined 49.5 points in Chicago a couple seasons ago. Sabonis, a 3x All-Star, has been putting up multiple double-double seasons in points and rebounds since 2019 and is averaging 14.3 rebounds this season. 

Photo Credits:

Stacy Revere, Getty Images/https://fansided.com/projected-bulls-lineup-after-de-aaron-fox-zach-lavine-trade

Sources:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/derozde01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sabondo01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lavinza01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/foxde01.html

https://www.espn.com.au/nba/standings

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8YuBu8f