Hoops Tonight - De'Aaron Fox TOP 3 Trades: Lakers, Spurs & Rockets BEST FITS for Kings star

a player to score six. Go to the Draftking Sportsbook gap and make your pick right now. The Chiefs open as a very slight favorite at minus one and a half. I'm personally rooting for the Chiefs, mainly because I appreciate them as one of the greatest teams of all time, and as a Cowboys fan, I just literally cannot stand any success for the Philadelphia Eagles. New DraftKings customers can bet five dollars to get two hundred dollars in bonus

bets instantly. Download the Draft King Sportsbook ap use code hoops. That's hops, that's code hoops for new customers to get two hundred dollars in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on Draft King sports book. The Crown is yours. Gamble problem called one ted hundred gambler in New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope and why to four six seven three

six nine Connecticut. Help us available for problem gambling Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario New customers only. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see d KNG dot co slash audio. All right, welcome

to tonight. You're at the volume heavy Wednesday. Everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great week. Just a very quick show for you today. We got a report yesterday that Rich Paul went to the Sacramento Kings and said, hey, you know what, you should probably look into trading Darren Fox because he's not going to commit to the team in the long run. So in today's show, we're gonna briefly talk about what that means for the Sacramento Kings. And then I'm gonna give you guys my

three favorite Dear and Fox trade destinations. You guys are the job. Before we get started, to subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss you announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and

a review on that front. And the last, but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions and the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them on Fridays throughout the remainder of this season. All right, let's talk some basketball before we go into darreon Fox potential destinations. I want to talk a little bit about the Sacramento Kings. So, on the one hand, I've always had a level of respect for

franchises that demonstrate self awareness. I don't I understand some of the pursuit of like maintaining a certain level of competence so that you just look like a good basketball team and you're good to your fans in that way. But I also think that being aware of the fact that not close to where you want to be is an important step in getting to where you want to be, Right Like, you got to admit that you're not what you want to be first before you can get there.

Rich Paul informed the Kings that they should trade him. That doesn't necessarily mean that Darren Fox would leave. As we know, free agency in this league has changed a lot over the course of the last ten years or so. Right there aren't exactly a lot of teams out there that are just working with max cap space, at least not good teams. Right Like, most good teams are perpetually operating above the cap. So it's difficult to leave in free agency and not end up in another bad situation.

Back in the day, the reason why that worked is there were lots of guys that were entering free agency every summer because they weren't signing extensions with their teams because they wanted to do it through free agency. Then they could link up with a couple of buddies and be like, Hey, I'm gonna go here, you want to meet me over there? Okay, sounds good, but that's not how it is. Anymore. You're not seeing two, three, four high profile free agents hitting free agency at the same

time and being willing to go sign with some other team. Right. So, like most, more often than not, these guys are extending with their teams and then demanding a trade. Right, But we also know that the Kings are not even close to being good enough to win a first round playoff series in this league. So in short, even if you were to somehow manage to re sign deeron Fox, it would likely be in the context of an eventual trade anyway. Right, Let's say you can't find a deal you like this year.

You play hardball again this summer at the deadline next year, teams aren't willing to give up a Ton because he only has six months left on his deal, or you know, a few months left on his deal. You end up in the summertime you've worked out a deal with Rich Paul, You signed some sort of long term contract, but then a year later he's demanding a trade. Now he makes fifty plus million, and he's a lot harder to match salary for. You could actually argue trading Fox now nets

you more than you will ever get for him. At a point in the future because now he has this super manageable salary and as of right now, he still has a full year and a half on his deal. Now there's a chance that when you get to this summer, you can still move. And we have an example of that. Right everyone was saying, oh, the Pelicans have to trade Anthony Davis in the trade deadline of that twenty nineteen season. They waited till the summer. It turns out the Lakers

are willing to pay just as much. Right So, the way I see it, you've got this window of time to trade Deer and Fox at this deadline and over this summer. I think once you get past that summer and you get into next year's trade deadline, now you're talking about the it's only potentially a few months rental that could affect value, and when you're on the next deal, now he makes a shit ton of money that could

affect value. Right, So, like, this is your opportunity here to at the deadline, dangle him out there and see if you can't get the best possible offer, and if you don't get the best pop up possible offer, then you take the best available offer. When you get to this summer, So in short, I do think that they should trade him. I think that now or this summer

is the right timeline to do so. And I think it's a nice little reflection of self awareness from the Kings to realize that they're not close and that they've got a really good asset here that they could potentially move.

You could argue they could do the same thing with demartros in demonest the bonus, but from what I tell, From what I can tell, it seems like the Kings want to remain at least somewhat relevant, and so I think Deared Fox is the kind of player that can bring you some win now pieces as well as draft compensation to boost you for the future. So let's get into our top three Daron Fox trade destinations and number three.

This one is completely and totally unrealistic, but I want to just have some fun with it, and I'm gonna let my Lakers fan bias come in here for a second. Number three the Los Angeles Lakers. And again, for the record up front, I think there's a zero percent chance of this happening because of the rivalry that exists between the Kings and the Lakers. King's ownership would have a very hard time explaining to their fans why they sent

Daron Fox to Los Angeles. But just for fun, I want you guys just to hear this one out as like a more of a thought exercise in terms of value in two situations. What if the Lakers called up the Kings and they offered Ruey Hotchimura, Austin Reeves, Dalton Connect, Jalen hoods Chaffino, and both first round picks unprotected for Darren Fox and Jordan McLaughlin. Interestingly enough, I actually like this deal more for the Kings than I like it

for the Lakers. This is a Kings team that I've been talking about now for two years desperately needs a bigger, stronger power forward to help next to Demona Sabonis. They've had Harrison Barnes, They've used small ball looks, They've had Trey Lyles in there a lot. Getting a guy like Ruey Hotchimura represents a legitimate upgrade at the power forward spot that the Kings have needed for years now. You

could shoot the ball really well. Compliments to Bonus. Ruey's biggest weakness is rebounding, which is Demonisa Bonus's biggest strength at something that he can help him with. He's a guy that as you're running your action with the ball gets skipped to the corner. He's like a legitimate week side spacer. Ruey has his flaws, and he's playing out of position for the Lakers, which has accentuated those flaws.

But I think he's a perfectly fine power forward in this league and in a legit upgrade for the Sacramento Kings. Austin Reeves is an incredible skill guard that Kings fans would love, and he slots really nicely next to Keon Ellis. I know non Lakers fans like to talk shit about Austin Reeves. I'm just telling you as someone who's rooted for him for the last three years. He's awesome and a guy like Dearon Fox is like the only it's like the bottom level of the caliber of player that

I would be willing to give Austin up for. Austin is legit. He would immediately help the Kings right away, slots in beautifully next to an athletic defensive guard in Keon Ellis, and you get Dalton connect as a prospect for the future. In addition to those two first round picks, which are almost certainly going to be high picks because the Lakers are really incompetent. When Lebron James and Anthony Davis hang them up, or when at least Lebron hangs

them up, they're going to really struggle to succeed. So you get a good mix of future talent to go with win now pieces in Austin and Ruie. To put it, simply, turning Daron Fox into Austin Reeves and Ruey Hachimura, in my opinion, keeps the Kings more or less in the same kind of like level of contention that they are currently in. Meanwhile, for the Lakers, you finally get your legit star shot creator to pair with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, specifically a guy in Fox who brings a

unique combination of downhill burst and pull up shooting. All of the perimeter initiators for the Lakers struggle to get downhill, except for Lebron when he's playing hard, which he only does really from time to time in the regular season and then in the postseason. Even then, it's more of like a bully ball type of attack. Austin Dilo when he was here, Gabe, These guys struggled to beat people off the dribble and get downhill. Austin when he's at his absolute best can do it, but it's not like

a consistent night to night kind of thing. Dearon Fox would immediately bring that level of downhill burst to make things easier for the Lakers offense in the half court. Also, Dearon Fox is really good at those playoff shots, like those like mid range pull up jump shots that you hit in ball screens, like oh, things are breaking down or playing an elite defense. We need something to create, somebody to create something. Darren Fox can help with that.

You also would represent a pivot point for a rebuild for the Lakers. So what do you do in the era post Lebron? You don't have anything at this point that would justify any sort of pivot. It would be like if Lebron's done, you trade Anthony Davis too, and you blow the whole damn thing up. Bringing a guy like Dearon Fox, Darren Fox and Anthony Davis is a legitimate foundation to try to start a kind of like

pivot rebuild. At that point, you could take one season, or you take on some bad contracts and let those guys play, try to recoup some assets and then try to pivot at some point in the next couple of years and make another run. I think Dearreon Fox would

help with that. My main concerns there for the Lakers would be it would be very difficult to find a second deal at that point, so like, for instance, they wanted to get a backup center, which, by the way, now that Anthony Davis has an abdominal strain, could be a legitimate problem here in the big picture, you're not in the second round pick market any or you're not in the first round pick market for centers anymore. You're

not getting Walker Kessler. If the price for Robert Williams turns out to be a protected first round pick, you're not getting Walker or you're not getting Robert Williams, right, So like it would be one of those deals that could leave more holes on the Lakers roster. But then you still have this like fundamental like I can march out Daron Fox, Max Christy, Dorian Finney, Smith, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis. Is that five good enough to win

the championship? And I think they are. That five is legitimate. It would be the bench and the depth stuff that could be a problem. But you'd still have Jared Vanderbilt, right, You'd still have Gabe Vincent, you would still have pieces off the bench that could help. You would just be thin in that regard to be a top end talent type of play. So, as I said, interestingly enough, I think I'm more on the fence for that one for

the Lakers than I am for the Kings. I think the Kings actually get a lot more in the way of like helps you win right away type of pieces in terms of Austinaries and Riya Chimura and picture future talent in terms of Dalton connect in first round draft compensation number two for my favorite dearon Fox Destinations, the San Antonio Spurs. Now who goes out in this deal

is super complicated. The Kings are not allowed to take back Harrison Barnes in that deal because they just sent him to San Antonio in a trade this summer, and the Spurs don't have much in the way of win now pieces to offer, like if Sacramento wants to demand win now pieces so that they can maintain some semblance of competence in the short term. San Antonio is gonna struggle offering pieces along those lines, so it might very well end up being a three team deal to facilitate

something like this. But for the sake of keeping things simple, let's just zero in on the fit between Daron Fox and Victor Wimanyela. Darren Fox personally shoots fifty five percent from the field field goal percentage as the ball handler and pick and roll. That's one point zero nine points per shot among the fifteen players in the NBA that logged at least three hundred possessions to this point in the season as a shooter in pick and roll, meaning they took the shot as the ball handler and pick

and roll. He ranks third out of those fifteen players in efficiency per shot. Only Jalen Brunson and Darius Garland have been better. He's ahead of guys like Shay Gilds, Alexander and Damian Lillard. Deeron Fox has been one of the very best shot makers in pick and roll all year. The Spurs don't have anything close to that. Steph Castle gets zero point eight to one points per shot in ball screens, and I love Steph Castle. I would not

give him up in a Deeron Fox deal. But he's not close to being ready to meet Victor wembin Yama in terms of the level of offensive player as a ball handler he needs to be for a serious basketball team. Devin Vessel, he shoots forty two percent in ball screens, zero point eight one points per shot. That's the same as Steph Castle. Chris Paul shoots forty four percent. That's solid, zero point ninety five points per shot in ball screens.

That's okay, but his volume is hilariously low. He's only they made sixty one shots in ball screens this year. Darren Fox, for comparison, has made one hundred and thirty six, so more than twice as often or more than twice as many times this year as Darren Fox scored as the ball handler in ball screens. So, simply put, the Spurs don't have anything close to a serious ball screen

threat to pair with Victor wembin Yama right now. Darren Fox is older than Victor wemen Yama, but not old enough to make you feel pressure in terms of a timeline like I still feel like Fox and Wemby could easily put together more than a half decade of really high level basketball together. It's not like a, Oh, we make this move. We have two or three years to make this work. No, he's he's in his twenties. There's a real long term window to try to make that

partnership work. And as I've said many times on this show, Dearn Fox is kind of the perfect defensive fit with Wemby because he's more of an aggressive, turnover forcing defender than a contain the ball type of defender. He's had seventeen games this year with multiple steals. He led the league in steels last year. So if you were to look to pair Wemby with the Star, I don't think you can do much better than Fox. He's a seamless

fit on both ends of the floor. He's a medium sized salary that isn't overly difficult to match, and he fits the timeline of what you're trying to accomplish. But my favorite Darren Fox fit in light of the rise of this team as of late, is the Houston Rockets. Now, for the record, I saw a report from Mark Stein that the Rockets really want to ride this out and just see what this team is capable of. Normally, i'd agree when there isn't a rush. However, there are two

reasons why I think that's a bad idea. One, I don't need to watch the playoffs to know exactly what's going to happen with this Rockets team. They're going to lose no later than the second round, and it's going to be because they can't score the basketball. Why Because they're perimeter initiators are Jalen Green, who basically just takes pull up threes and drives into a half dozen bodies every time he faces a good defense, and Fred van Vliet,

who can't get separation from elite defenders. And when you combine that with literally all of their catch and shoot guys being somewhat streaky, it's inevitable. I don't know why you would need to see that in order to believe it. And for all of you who are like, oh, the Rockets their top ten offense, they're bottom ten and half court offense. So it literally just takes a team that has an elite defense that takes care of the basketball and it just executes well and doesn't turn the ball over,

and there they're screwed. They're not going to be able to score when they're stuck in the half court against an elite defense. In the postseason. So like, I'm a huge fan of what the Rockets are doing. I'm a big believer in them, but they have such a crippling weakness and perimeter shock creation that I just don't view it as a viable solution, like as a viable championship team. Put it simply, look at the Celtics game for an example.

They got nothing from Fred and nothing from Jalen. It just so happens that Dylan Brooks made every damn three he took and Aman Thompson at the best game of his career to make up for that offensive limitation. That's a game they lose by fifteen if Dylan doesn't shoot the ball the way that he shot in that game. So like, I don't know what exactly they need to see. Take it back to like Oka see last year fundamentally different, Like, let's see what these guys got. Maybe they can beat Dallas.

I don't know whether or not Shay has enough offensive help. Let's see it. I wanted to see what Okac could do. I don't need to see what Houston can do to know that Fred and Jalen are not enough. The second reason is I think the Rockets have a legitimate, real shot to win the title if they make this type of move. Their defense is very much built to handle the top teams in this league. They have repeatedly guarded Boston, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland really well in the last few weeks.

They have the perimeter athletes to match up. They have physicality, They can cause serious problems for those teams. Like at Cleveland, it's like a legitimate mismatch. You saw what they did to Boston too. They have the defensive build to win the title. I like Shane Goon, I like their transition attack. They just need a much more reliable perimeter shot creator.

The Rockets also have this Fred van Vliet salary. It's forty plus million dollar salary that they can use as a piece to actually like as salary ballast, so that they don't have to dip into all of their depth of role player talent to try to facilitate a deal. And they have ten first round picks between now and twenty thirty one, so they have the ability to go to Sacramento and be like, hey, seamless swap will go. You know, Fred van Vliet, there's another machination in that deal.

I think they would have to take back another I think the Rockets might have to take back one other salary from the Kings, but call it Fred for Deeron Fox. In terms of just the basic kind of foundation of the deal for Sacramento, you get a win now piece in Fred van Vliet that seamlessly slots in Deeron Fox's role. He's a very good playmaker too, something that will help

grease the wheels for the Kings offense. You get to maintain your relevance in the short term, and you just get Houston for as many picks as you can get from them, right, So that benefits Sacramento. Now you have a team in Houston that can credibly generate offense in the half court while having the defense to transition attack that this Rockets team has devastated some of the best teams in the league with lately. I think they can

legitimately hoist the trophy if they get dearon Fox. Like they match up really well with the best teams in the league. They have one crippling weakness that Darren Fox perfectly addresses. I think they should do it. That's my favorite destination for Dearon Fox. The volume. What's Up guys, As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a

rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.