In February, the San Antonio Spurs acquired guard De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings before the trade deadline. Before the trade, Fox spent his first seven-and-a-half seasons in Sacramento. However, amidst rumors of him wanting out, the Kings ultimately shipped him out to San Antonio.
On Friday night, the Kings will host the Spurs in Fox’s return to Sacramento. Before the game, Fox spoke with ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. In the conversation, the Kentucky alum opened up about his trade to San Antonio. Furthermore, Fox made it clear that he never requested a trade from the Kings despite rumors.
Fox insists he “never asked for a trade,” from the franchise that drafted him fifth in 2017. “I loved it,” he said of Sacramento. “Everybody bled purple. It was always great just going to the grocery store, going out to a restaurant. Everybody there was extremely kind. And when we started winning, then it was ‘light the beam’ everywhere. You really felt it around the city. So, it was definitely a great place to be for as long as I was.”
Additionally, he also said he initially wanted to spend his entire career in Sacramento. However, once the Kings fired head coach Mike Brown, his career plans changed.
“I truly wanted to play for one team my whole career,” Fox told ESPN. “I really did.”
“I was like, ‘Yo, I’ve been here for going on my eighth year. If Mike gets fired, I’ll be going on my fifth coach,'” Fox told ESPN. “And I told them, ‘I’m not going to play for another coach. I’m going to play for another team.'”
Since the trade, Fox has appeared in 13 games for the Spurs. In those games, he averaged 19.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.8 steals.
De’Aaron Fox Reveals Major Update On Sacramento Kings Trade
De’Aaron Fox Only Had 1 Preferred Trade Destination
In his conversation with Wright, Fox spoke about where he wanted to end up in the trade away from Sacramento. According to Fox, the Spurs were the only team he wanted to go to.
“There was no f—ing list,” Fox said. “There was one team. I wanted to go to San Antonio. So, a lot of people are mad at me, saying I handcuffed the team by giving them a destination. Well, this is my career. If anybody else is in my position, you’d do the same thing. It’s not my job to help build your team. I’m not about to just go where they want me to go. I wanted to have a destination.”
Ultimately, Fox got his wish. The Kings traded him to San Antonio as part of a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls in a deal that sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento.
The Last Word
With roughly a month left in the season, the Spurs are not likely to make a postseason appearance this year. They own the No. 13 seed and are 4.5 games behind a Play-In spot. Additionally, star Victor Wembanyama has already been ruled out for the rest of the year as well. Still, there is a lot to like about San Antonio’s future outlook, and much of that has to do with Fox’s arrival.
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