The San Antonio Spurs might be on the verge of acquiring a second superstar in the next two weeks.
With San Antonio’s two greatest talents (Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle) being 21 and 20 years old, respectfully, the Spurs are seen as a franchise building for the future.
However, San Antonio’s improvement this season has been greater than most expected, and entering Tuesday, the Spurs owned a 20-23 record, placing them just 2.5 games beyond the Play-In.
If and when the Spurs could add another huge piece to play alongside Wemby and Castle (not to mention future Hall of Famer Chris Paul), they’d immediately become a playoff lock at worst.
And that very destiny might be arriving far ahead of schedule, with multiple reports surfacing on Tuesday that Sacramento Kings superstar point guard De’Aaron Fox will be traded before February 6, and that his preferred destination might be the Spurs.
ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to the punch on Tuesday regarding Fox.
“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,” Charania said.
“There will be plenty of suitors, but it’s believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency.”
Soon after, Forbes’ Evan Sidery came in with a haymaker, insinuating that Fox’s “target destination” — as worded by Shams — is the San Antonio Spurs.
“The Spurs and De’Aaron Fox are believed to hold significant mutual interest in a future partnership, per source,” Sidery said.
“Fox believes he is the missing piece in San Antonio alongside Victor Wembanyama to make them a sustainable title threat in the Western Conference for years to come.”
Sidery also provided further context into the Fox situation from Sacramento’s perspective.
“Even with the Kings’ turnaround under interim head coach Doug Christie, it’s not enough to get a long-term commitment from De’Aaron Fox,” Sidery said.
“Sacramento will move Fox before February 6th to capitalize on maximum value in return.”
The Spurs are sitting on a treasure chest full of first-round picks, making them a perfect trade partner capable of providing “maximum value” to Sacramento, as worded by Sidery.
But even if a San Antonio-Sacramento deal falls through, it sounds like Fox will definitely be wearing a different uniform in February.
Interestingly, Fox’s departure from the Kings was foreshadowed back in October by the author of this piece, citing a similar suggestion from The Ringer’s Bill Simmons.
“If it doesn’t go that well (for the Kings this season), then it just becomes De’Aaron Fox trade machine time,” Simmons said months ago.
All of Sacramento’s worst fears for 2024-25 have unfortunately come true, not excluding the firing of their head coach.
Now, the Kings will be moving on from a player they drafted No. 5 overall in 2017 and developed into a superstar.
Fox is set to earn $37 million next year before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2026.
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