6 De'Aaron Fox Trade Ideas - Deadseriousness

With Mike Brown being fired via text after a full day of practice, it’s safe to say the Kings are done.

They had their shot a couple seasons ago but Draymond Green powerbombed Domantis Sabonis and Steph Curry dropped 50 on them as the Golden State Warriors strangled them in the first round.

The Kings have gotten worse each season after.

Last season they didn’t make it out of the play-in and this season, they have the same number of wins as the Detroit Pistons [derogatory].

You never want to enter a season with championship aspirations only to find yourself battling to stay above the Portland Trailblazers after Christmas.

It’s over.

Shockingly, adding a 35-year-old who’s only useful in the final 5 minutes of a basketball game—a role De’Aaron Fox already excelled in—didn’t turn the Sacramento Kings into the 90’s Bulls.

Let’s wrap it up.

Houston, Memphis, Oklahoma City and San Antonio are emerging.

Denver, Dallas and Minnesota aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

There’s no room for a team whose best player has only one All-Star appearance in 8 seasons (and Fox wasn’t even selected to the team. He was an injury replacement).

Let’s talk De’Aaron Fox trades.

Tese trades aren’t necessarily meant to make any teams better. These are more trade ideas to make things a bit more interesting around the NBA.

Here are 6 De’Aaron Fox trade ideas:

1. Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic gets De’Aaron Fox and Doug McDermott.

Sacramento Kings gets Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter and Cole Anthony.

I love that Jalen Suggs answers the question that no one has ever asked, “What would Patrick Beverley look like if he had the green light?”

Jalen Suggs is a dog.

Cool.

So is Fox. Except when Fox takes a jumper, you’re not shocked when it goes in.

Suggs’s contract extension will take him from $9 million this season to $35 million next year.

That’s a huge pay raise for a guy you know will miss games after diving head-first into the scorer’s table or trying to block a dunk on a fastbreak, shattering all bones on the landing.

He is not long for this world.

Tom Thibedeau would have Suggs playing 48 minutes a night in a neck brace like the one’s injury attorneys force their clients to wear in small claims court.

Suggs is only 23 years old.

He can help establish a new defensive identity for a Kings team in purgatory.

Meanwhile, De’Aaron Fox, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner will get buckets.

Mikal Bridges. OG Anunoby. Jaylen Brown. Jayson Tatum. Giannis. Khris Middleton.

Ton of wing defenders in the East.

Paolo and Franz will be working for baskets in the playoffs.

Who’s stopping De’Aaron Fox?

Jalen Brunson? Trae Young?? Donovan Mitchell??? Damian Lillard????

Magic in 4.

Disclaimer: I wrote this before…this…

Jalen Suggs was wheelchaired off the court after a non-contact back injury

Hope he’s okay 🙏 pic.twitter.com/6IHEabv2gI

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 4, 2025

Ow.

2. Indiana Pacers

Indiana Pacers get De’Aaron Fox and Trey Lyles.

Sacramento Kings get Tyrese Haliburton.

Man, imagine how good this Pacers team would be if they had a point guard.

Tyrese Haliburton looked like lightskin Steve Nash—then took one weird video after a 50 Cent concert with 3 women who looked like they had the Applebee’s menu memorized—and suddenly started playing like he lied on his resume and was surprised to actually be hired as an NBA starting point guard.

The Kings liked Tyrese enough to draft him the first time. Maybe they’ll take him back.

Tyrese wants to be a star and perhaps he’ll be motivated playing in California as opposed to Indianapolis.

I recognize you’ll most likely be reading this after Haliburton just dropped 33 points on a Miami Heat team where Jimmy Butler was standing in the corner, looking at his sneakers with his hands in his pockets.

Tyrese Haliburton gets his own rebound for the triple 🔥

He has 16 points and 4-of-7 from three in the 1st quarter.pic.twitter.com/mnxQUIJjK5

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 3, 2025

Shout out to Tyrese finding his confidence. Samson’s hair grew back. Good. He’ll need it in Sacramento.

De’Aaron Fox may not rack up double-digit assists every night but at least he won’t shy away from the pressure.

Sometimes I watch Haliburton and see a guy who does not want to be blamed for his team losing so he’ll hot potato the ball back and forth as the shot clock goes down. Tyrese has biiiig “new cop pulling out his gun in fear the first time he pulls over a black person” energy. We need him protecting the subways here.

3. Brooklyn Nets

I wanted to put at least one tanking team in here.

My motto for 2025 is to “be beautiful sooner”. Fuck patience.

Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper can hoop but they don’t fit every team’s timeline.

Like, the Charlotte Hornets have LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. They have young stars. Adding another teenager doesn’t help them win playoff games right now.

The Brooklyn Nets don’t have shit.

It almost doesn’t make sense to bring Cooper Flagg or Dyland Harper into a situation like Brooklyn’s where they’d be the only talented player in a locker room surrounded by scrubs.

No player in this draft is good enough to singlehandedly create a winning culture for an organization that acquires D’Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert and/or Spencer Dinwiddie, like, every 6-18 months.

I know Brooklyn is selling parts away. Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith are already gone.

But De’Aaron Fox is a starting point. It’s a direction.

He’s a face to put on billboards in Time Square. Brooklyn doesn’t have to start from the abyss. Build around Fox. Go.

The Miami Heat went to 2 NBA Finals with Jimmy Butler. They didn’t tank year after year.

They just traded for an All-Star.

Dear every NBA team: Trade for All-Stars. They’re All-Stars.

4. Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns get De’Aaron Fox.

Sacramento Kings get Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and Josh Okogie.

We’re ignoring the CBA, the second apron and all the tax implications and shit, right?

Realistically, I think the Phoenix Suns have to include Bradley Beal in a deal for another max contract but that’s not the point of this exercise. We are trying to create the most fun and interesting teams, not impress Bobby Marks.

Tyus Jones is cool or whatever but a team of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley and De’Aaron Fox would be everyone’s go-to in NBA 2K.

Now, they’d rarely win games. All 4 of those guys would look at each other pissed as teams easily score like taking Lauren Boebert to a local Colorado stage adaption of an 80s classic.

Offensively, it’s 4 sociopaths taking turns isoing all game long and getting pissed at Jusuf Nurkic for even thinking about putting an offensive rebound back up.

You losers keep whining about every team playing the same type of way? Here, damn. The Phoenix Suns with De’Aaron Fox play like 4 poor Dominican teenagers sprinting from first base to home on a blooper to right field because there’s a Chicago White Sox scout in the crowd looking to spend the club’s final $100,000 in international money.

5. Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets get De’Aaron Fox, Trey Lyles.

Sacramento Kings get Fred VanVleet, Cam Whitmore (draft picks too, sure.)

Let’s start this conversation by declaring a fact: De’Aaron Fox is better than both Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green.

Fred VanVleet is shooting 37% from the field this season. 32% from 3.

You have to give credit to this Rockets team staying in the 2nd or 3rd seed all season long despite playing 4-on-5 every night and VanVleet feeds opposing big men easy double-doubles collecting his bricks.

And it’s not just percentages and stats. It’s about the times in the games when those bricks come.

Fred is a black hole when the game gets close.

Last Friday, the Rockets lost a 112-113 nail-biter to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

FVV missed THREE 3-point attempts in the final 2-minutes.

Alperen Sengun was the only player who got a shot attempt off at the end of the game.

It’s almost suspicious how terrible he is at the end of games. Like there’s a bookie texting him before games saying “Don’t forget we have your children.”

VanVleet is shooting 24% in clutch time.

That’s worse than Russell Westbrook.

You never want to have worse shooting numbers than a man who had to sternly request we no longer call him “Westbrick” because his kids were getting bullied.

Fred VanVleet is worse than that.

I’ve seen people shake off a Jimmy Butler to Houston trade because his age doesn’t match Houston’s timeline.

Well, De’Aaron Fox just turned 27. And he’s one of the best clutch players in the NBA.

The 2023 Clutch Player of the Year trophy is literally one of the only awards Fox has won.

Replacing Fred VanVleet with De’Aaron Fox is like replacing, well, any closer with Mariano Rivera.

As far as Jalen Green goes, whatever.

6. Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies get De’Aaron Fox.

Sacramento Kings get Marcus Smart and Brandon Clarke.

The Memphis Grizzlies greatest strength is that there’s like a million of these fuckers.

Last year, everyone got injured and this franchise put together a 12-man roster full of G-Leaguers, migrant workers and local club promoters.

Now this season, every player on the team, from Ja Morant to the 15th man, can step onto the court on any night and play 30 productive minutes of basketball.

And Memphis needs that depth because this season, guys like Ja and Marcus Smart and Santi Aldama are missing every game with random injuries.

Shout out to the Memphis medical staff.

But yo, Ja Morant and De’Aaron Fox driving to the basket all night long, bludgeoning teams with two of the quickest ball handlers in the game.

You’re starting games against them in foul trouble. Every game against the Grizzlies would be like playing Grand Theft Auto with 5 wanted stars.

*whispers* Fox will probably just be on the San Antonio Spurs so none of this matters.

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