De'Aaron Fox Divulges Thoughts on Kings in Recent Interview

Marc Spears sat down with point guard De’Aaron Fox to catch up with the former King as he helps lead the San Antonio Spurs to the Emirates NBA Cup final against the New York Knicks.

The interview begins with Fox saying that he “hasn’t stopped smiling since [he] got [to San Antonio].” This makes sense. There were rumblings throughout the final weeks of Fox’s time in Sacramento that he had a preferred destination, and the star point guard eventually confirmed that San Antonio was that preferred team.

After missing the first 8 games due to injury, Fox, the 5th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, is enjoying another standout season. He is currently averaging 23.9 PPG, 6.9 APG, and 1.4 steals per game on 48.8/39.1/84 splits. These numbers are below his averages the last few seasons in Sacramento, but he is one rung down the pecking order in San Antonio, so the small drop makes sense.

Kings fans are undoubtedly curious about the timeline of how exactly the team’s relationship with Fox fell apart so quickly. This time two years ago, it felt like Fox was going to retire a King. To some, it may have even felt like that one year ago.

Fox shed light on when things began to sour, explaining that “everything started going bad in the summer of 2024.” This makes a lot of sense. That summer, former coach Mike Brown was one season removed from winning unanimous Coach of the Year and leading the Kings to home court advantage, where they would fall to the rival Golden State Warriors in 7 games.

While Sacramento missed the 2023-24 playoffs, they were a couple poorly-timed injuries from getting back to the postseason, and their record was not all that different from 2022-23. People could quibble about some of Brown’s tactics, but he brought Sacramento two of their best seasons in decades.

Brown was then up for a contract extension. Sacramento consulted Fox, who said he did not want to play for another coach. That should have been a clear enough sign that Sacramento should probably do what they can to ink Brown to a fair extension and move forward. Naturally, those negotiations got tense, and it took far longer than it should have.

Sacramento eventually fired Mike Brown amid a December losing streak, just months after extending him. As expected, the Fox murmurs started becoming more frequent and more public.

Kings fans should open up their minds to the very real possibility of a DeAaron Fox trade.
— Damien Barling (@damienbarling) January 28, 2025

JUST IN: The Sacramento Kings are expected to open up talks to potentially deal All-Star De'Aaron Fox ahead of Feb. 6 trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. There will be plenty of suitors, but it's believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency. pic.twitter.com/Oh3fXgZjm3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 28, 2025

Fox and his agent made it clear that he would not sign the max extension Sacramento was offering, and instead made it clear that he was not happy that the franchise fired Brown.

"...it was made VERY clear that you're[Kings] in the danger zone here...they[Fox] are clearly contemplating the prospect of asking for a trade..."👀
- Sam Amick[@sam_amick] on De'Aaron Fox

Thoughts?#Rockets #Liftoff pic.twitter.com/oHURsSbcw5
— Chris Gorman (@GormanChristoph) December 31, 2024

Those initial tweets came on January 28. Despite having another year on his contract before UFA, Sacramento abruptly dealt Fox just five days after those tweets. Fox was a Spur. The return for Sacramento was seen as underwhelming when the trade happened, as Zach LaVine is on what was largely considered an unmovable contract. This has remained the case, and LaVine has not played up to his lofty salary. Sacramento has shown no willingness to extend LaVine at a more favorable annual salary, either.

The return only looks worse as San Antonio continues to flourish and the picks they traded to Sacramento move further and further back in the first round. There is no sign of the Spurs falling apart either. Their young core of Victor Wembanyama (22), Stephon Castle (21), and Dylan Harper (19) will be there for many years. Fox (27) signed a max extension over the summer, locking him in for his prime years as well.

Dec 8, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) and forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) share a moment against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Fox and Keegan Still in Touch

In what is somewhat of a sad development, Fox went on to say that the only member of the organization he keeps in touch with is Keegan Murray. It is not too surprising that Fox has not kept in better touch with the few remaining holdovers. He has a new team to lead, and it seems like there was more internal strife than we know.

It would have been very disappointing if he had not stayed in touch with Murray, though. Fox took Murray under his wing almost immediately (I am told Fox even managed to make Keegan smile a couple of times), and it seemed like the two were very close.

The final Fox quote in Stein’s article is both not telling at all while also incredibly telling. He was asked directly about the Kings, and replied that he “[doesn’t] really have anything to say. It is what it is. I wish [Murray] the best. Whether that is rebuilding, I want him to be in the best position for him.” The quote ended with the one-liner, “the grass is greener on this side.”

If you are wondering how painful it was to write this, the answer is very. It was very painful. In a poetic development, Fox and the Spurs play Mike Brown and the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup Championship tomorrow night. Both the Spurs and Knicks are 18-7 on the season. Meanwhile, Sacramento is 6-20 and looks to avoid their 8th loss in 9 games on Thursday when they play the Portland Trail Blazers.

Fox and Keegan Still in Touch

Recommended Articles