The tectonic shift of the Luka Doncic commerce was sufficient to quiet all transaction whispers elsewhere for nearly 24 hours, however on Sunday night, phrase started to percolate that Doncic wouldn’t be the one NBA star moved over the weekend, and that De’Aaron Fox was on the verge of getting his commerce request granted.
After which it occurred, with Fox heading to his most well-liked vacation spot of the San Antonio Spurs, Zach LaVine ending up on the Kings, and the Bulls… effectively, largely getting off the LaVine contract but additionally getting their very own first-round choose again from Sacramento to allow them to tank safely this season.
Shams Charania of ESPN and Sam Amick of The Athletic have been first on the information:
Full commerce:
Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin
Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first spherical picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second spherical picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 personal again)
Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their very own 2025 choose by way of SAS https://t.co/UgwylCUYAO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 3, 2025
Sending Fox to pair with Victor Wembanyama would have been momentous sufficient by itself, however the value the Kings have been in a position to extract from him isn’t going to quiet Mavs followers who’re upset concerning the return their very own workforce obtained for Doncic after (largely) solely even purchasing him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Why? Effectively, pause, take a second to take inventory of what and who’re going the place in that deal above. Did you rely the picks? As a result of these with a primary understanding of elementary faculty math might discover one thing that’s type of amusing: The Kings have been technically in a position to get extra first-round picks (three) for De’Aaron Fox than the Mavs obtained for buying and selling Doncic (one).
Now, there’s after all context to that factoid. The Kings are taking over LaVine’s contract (with two years and practically $100 million left AFTER this season) and transferring on from the perfect participant within the commerce, to say nothing of the truth that they don’t seem to be getting again any gamers anyplace close to the caliber of Anthony Davis, whom the Mavs obtained within the Doncic deal.
The picks additionally aren’t precisely premium selections, and considered one of them might not even convey, as Matt George of ABC10 in Sacramento and Locked on Kings broke down:
The three first rounders the Kings obtained from the Spurs are…not nice.
The 2025 Charlotte choose is Prime 14 protected. Hornets are 4th worst within the NBA this season.
The 2027 Spurs choose will not be nice except the Wemby/Fox workforce fully fails.
The 2031 T-Wolves choose is much away.
— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) February 3, 2025
Just a few workforce people are pointing this out to me: Charlotte’s 2025 first-round choose that Sacramento is touchdown from San Antonio is top-14 protected — primarily assured will not convey, and can as a substitute develop into 2026 and 2027 CHA seconds. Kings *actually* obtained again two firsts.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) February 3, 2025
However nonetheless, even when that Charlotte one doesn’t convey, “the Kings obtained extra picks for Fox than the Mavs obtained for Luka” will at all times be a humorous and technically true assertion, in addition to possibly a future reply in considered one of your NBA-themed video games of bar trivia.