Lakers Could Make Run at Six-Time All-Star Amid Rival Team Drama

After not coming to terms on a potential contract extension to stick with the Sacramento Kings for the long haul, All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox is now apparently agitating for a trade out of town. The 27-year-old guard is under contract for one more season.

Shams Charania of ESPN reported earlier this week that the Kentucky product is hoping to be moved prior by this season's deadline.

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

Per James Ham of ESPN 1320, the Texas-born Fox would like to be moved to the 21-24 San Antonio Spurs, so he can play alongside All-Star second-year center Victor Wembanyama.

According to multiple sources, if De'Aaron Fox leaves the Kings via trade, his preferred landing spot is the San Antonio Spurs. It could be an interesting couple of days in Sacramento.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) January 28, 2025

Should Fox depart, the 24-23 Kings — currently just the Western Conference's No. 10 seed — could tumble like a tenuous house of cards. He is their top playmaker and creator, and augments fellow 2023 All-Stars Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan brilliantly with his tenacious downhill play.

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During a recent interview on FanDuel TV's "Run It Back" with hosts Michelle Beadle, Lou Williams and Chandler Parsons, DeRozan conceded that he may be open to moving on, too, if Fox does. The six-time All-Star swingman inked a three-year, $73.9 million deal with Sacramento over the summer in a three-team sign-and-trade with the Spurs and Chicago Bulls.

“A key player, key juggernaut in Fox, not knowing the future of that, it does make it tough.” 😳

Demar Derozan says that it would be tough to consider a long term future with the Kings amid a De’Aaron Fox trade.

Could the Kings lose both superstars?@MichelleDBeadle |… pic.twitter.com/XnIPspQF5K
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 30, 2025

“Yeah, it's tough, because looking at the landscape, before I came here, those [are] the guys I talked to was Fox, Domas [Sabonis] and Malik [Monk]. Those [were] the core guys that made it easy for me to make my decision to play here. A key player, key juggernaut in Fox, not knowing the future of that, it does make it tough."

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It certainly seems like DeRozan, a USC alum and Los Angeles native, could be had in a deal. But would the Lakers want him for what he'll cost in contracts and draft equity?

"I don't have much time left," the 35-year-old conceded. "I'm not trying to play another five years, trying to maximize the opportunity we have now to play with a great team. You never know when dominoes fall the wrong way when it comes to [an] organization it makes it tough. So it's something that we've just got to weigh out and see, and in the meantime just make the most of it. So we'll see how it pans out.”

DeRozan has never been a particularly good defender, and is not a high-volume 3-point marksman, making him something of an anomaly in the modern game.

Still, DeRozan would give the Lakers even more scoring acumen and playmaking to compliment All-NBA superstars Luka Doncic and Lebron James. He's one of the greatest midrange shooters in the game, can play off the catch or with the ball in his hands, and is adept at drawing foul calls.

Across 42 games in his 16th pro season, DeRozan is averaging 21.6 points on .485/.327/.862 shooting splits, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals a night.

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