De’Aaron Fox to join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio as part of 3-team trade, AP sources say
De’Aaron Fox to join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio as part of 3-team trade, AP sources say
Victor Wembanyama has a new point guard: De’Aaron Fox is on his way out of Sacramento and headed to San Antonio.
Fox is one of the centerpieces of a trade agreed to by three teams, one that sends two-time All-Star Zach LaVine from Chicago to Sacramento, Zach Collins from San Antonio to Chicago and Kevin Huerter from the Kings to the Bulls, two people with knowledge of the discussions said Sunday night.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not gone through the league approval process and cannot be finalized until that happens.
Also in the trade, according to the people who spoke to AP: Jordan McLaughlin goes from Sacramento to the Spurs, Sidy Cissoko goes from the Spurs to the Kings and Tre Jones leaves the Spurs for Chicago. There is also a slew of draft capital in the agreement, with Sacramento set to get at least three first-round picks, one of the people said.
The NBA’s trade deadline is Thursday afternoon. This three-team deal was agreed upon on the same day that the stunning deal sending Luka Doncic from the Mavericks to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis was announced.
Fox’s addition is huge for the Spurs. Wembanyama — the reigning rookie of the year — is continuing his climb toward superstardom. He’s set to make his All-Star Game debut later this month, is among the favorites to win defensive player of the year and will probably get MVP votes.
It’s no surprise that Fox, who is extension-eligible this summer, wanted to come to the Spurs: Playing alongside one of the game’s best centers, a 7-foot-4 force that most defenses don’t have an answer for, would appeal to any point guard in the game.
Fox is averaging 25 points, 6.1 assists and five rebounds per game this season for the Kings. He’s been an All-Star and an All-NBA player, and now in his eighth season gets to start anew alongside Wembanyama.
And the Spurs made that happen without giving up much of their copious stash of draft picks or the keys to their young core — players like rookie Stephon Castle, Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson. The Spurs also held on to veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, both of whom are in their first year with San Antonio.
It’s a new start for LaVine as well — sort of. He goes to Sacramento, where he’ll be reunited with former Bulls teammate DeMar DeRozan and is set to play alongside a perennial All-NBA candidate in Domantas Sabonis.
LaVine is averaging 24 points per game this season, putting him on pace to average at least that many points for the fifth time. He’s a 20.7-point-per-game scorer for his career after stints with Minnesota and the Bulls.
Huerter has averaged 11.5 points in his career, first with Atlanta and then with the Kings. He’ll also benefit from a fresh start after coming off the bench 28 times in 43 appearances with Sacramento this season.
Collins averaged 4.6 points for the Spurs, Jones averaged 4.4 points and Cissoko 1.3 points in 17 appearances with San Antonio. McLaughlin averaged 1.9 points in 28 games for the Kings.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
