Latest / Bleacher Report / De'Aaron Fox Traded to Spurs, Zach LaVine to Kings in 3-Team Deal | NBA GameTime

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De'Aaron Fox Traded to Spurs, Zach LaVine to Kings in 3-Team Deal | NBA GameTime · Bleacher Report

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Well, darn Fox is the latest star on the move.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: His preferred destination with San Antonio, and that's exactly where
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: he lands, forming a new tandem with Victor wembin Yamas.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: The NBA continued to provide drama a part of that
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: deal with Zach Levine. His time in Chicago is over.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: He's on his way to Sacramento and a monster deal
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: that once again shakes up the NBA. And this is
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the way it breaks down. It's a three team deal.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Daron Fox and Jordan McLoughlin going to San Antonio. You
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: see Levine going to Sacramento along with three first round
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: picks to his second round picks, and the Chicago Bulls
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: receiving Kevin Herder, Zach Collins, Prey Jones, and a twenty
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: twenty five draft pick as they begin their rebuild. Hey,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: welcome to game. Time to Bill Kareem with you. Greg
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Anthony gonna join us in just a few moments. I mean,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the last twenty hours or so have been crazy in
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: the NBA. You see Luka Donc going to Lakers, Anthony
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Davis over to the Mavericks. That the biggest deal we're
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: still talking about. Still kind of shocked, about another name
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: we thought might be traded before the deadline with Diaron Fox,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: and yes, dearon Fox is on his way now to
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the San Antonio Spurs. Ryan McDonough joining us now, and Ryan,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: there's not gonna be much left for the show this
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: week when you come in if all these deals keep happening.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: But we got to break it down as it does.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: Tell me what you see when this deal comes through. Yeah,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: the bill.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Not a surprise that the Sacramento Kings decided to move
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Diaron Fox now with a year.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: And a half left on his deal.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Historically, players have the most value with one plus years
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: on their deal, and Fox seemingly had his heart set
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: on going to San Antonio. There was a situation in
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: which the Spurs cleared a bunch of cap space and
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: then tried to sign him as an unrestricted free agent
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: in the twenty twenty six offseason.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: But with a young.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: Emerging star in Victor Wemenyama who looks like he's going
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: to be the face of the league for the next
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: decade or so, they did not want to wait on that.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: They wanted to upgrade at the point guard position, and
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Aaron Fox, at twenty seven years old, is as good
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: as they come as far as point guards who were
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: likely to be moved over the next year or two.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: So I really like it from San Antonio's perspective. They
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: also retain a lot of their top young players. They
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: did not want a trade. Stefan Castle, number four pick
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: out of Yukon is having a very good rookie year.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: They hold on to him in this field.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: And then also like it from the Sacramento Kings. They
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: wanted to stay competitive. Team made the playoffs for the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: first time in decades a couple of years ago. Obviously
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: a tumultuous season in Sacramento this year with Mike Brown
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: going out and Doug Christie replacing him as head coach.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: The team's played well lately, but they thought now was
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: the time to strike, try to maximize Daron Fox's value
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: on the trade market, and with Zach Levine in three
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: first round picks. I really like the return from the
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Sacramento Kings as well.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned Stefan Castle not part of that deal.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: They definitely didn't want him there. You know, it's interesting
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: with Wemby and his timeline because he is still so young,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: but Victor Webinyamo already early in his career has pretty
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: much show he's been frustrated at times this year when
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: they have a one game it feels like that timeline
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: has advanced.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: He wants to win now.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: He does, and he should. He's that kind of player.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: He's probably the front runner for Defensive Player of the Year.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: The Spurs have been very patient. We know the historic
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: run they were on under the leadership of Arcie Buford
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: and Greg Pofovich two decades in the playoffs every single year.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: That streak was snapped four or five years ago and
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: they haven't been back to the playoffs since. So this
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: has kind of been uncharted waters in San Antonio, but
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: now within the merging star in the front court in
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Victor women Yama with Dearn Fox, one of the fastest
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: and most explosive guards in the league. In the backcourt,
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: and then by retaining their complementary pieces I really like
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: to fit on the wing with Devin Bassel and Kelden
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Johnson who have been able to hang on to So
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: this is a team that's right on the cusp of
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: the play in in.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: The Western Conference.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: We know it's pretty bunched in that six to eleven
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: or twelve range in the west, but the Spurs are
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: right there, and this sends a message to Victor women
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Yama in particular that they're not going to wait anymore,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: that they're pushing some of their chips into the center
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: of the table to try to get into the play
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: in or hopefully the playoffs this year. But also they
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: retain enough assets and flexibility to build around Victor and
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Fox going forward.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the San Antonio Spur sitting two games outside of
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: a play in position. Right now, Greg Anthony joining us, Now,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: what's your reaction to the deal?
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: Well, I think from San Antonio standpoint, this is more
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: so based on the fact that Victor winbin Yama has
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: kind of expedited his learning curve, like he's ahead of
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: where most thought he would be. I think that started
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: last year and he's taken a huge step this year,
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: and so he puts San Antonio in a position where,
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: you know what, we can be far more competitive. Right now,
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: let's strike while the iron's hot and they go out
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: and get into Aaron Fox. I think a really perfect
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: compliment to him. They had the flexibility. From a cap standpoint,
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: I'm sure they'll get the deal done with him long term,
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: and I think it's a really good fit. They have
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: terrific young pieces, and then all of a sudden, you know,
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: there's so many of these good young teams that are emerging.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: San Antonio may have just pushed themselves to the forefront
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: of that next wave of great young teams. And so
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: that's impressive. With Chicago, you know, they they to me,
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: it's like they're just kind of, you know, wading in
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: the win a little bit like I don't. They're just
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: kind of biding their time. Maybe they're trying to set
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: themselves up for something more significant down the line. But
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: you know, that's a roster right now in total fucks,
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: and the question is going to be will they be
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: able to do some damage in the draft, what their
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: assets look like moving forward? I'm not as sure a
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: Sacramento and a similar dynamic look.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Zach Lavine is a.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: Terrific basketball player, but I would look at him and
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: Darren Fox is being comparable, and I probably give an
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: edge in terms of the position that he plays to
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: Daron Fox. But they're going to have a probably a
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: little bit better situation from a cap standpoint. They're not
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: gonna have to pay him as much as Daron Fox
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: was looking we're probably a max deal.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And Demartin Rosen's come out recently too and saying you
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: know he wants to win. Now, Ryan, do you think
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: this move does enough for DeMar to be like, Okay,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: I can settle in. I'm good with Zach Levine, Jordan
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: us Well.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: I like the talent on Sacramento's end. I do have
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: some questions about the fit Zach Levine, DeMar DeRozan, and
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: Malik Monk, who's been six Man of the Year. They're
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: all score first, guys. That's a lot of offensive firepower.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: But we'll figure out need to figure out who's going
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: to distribute the ball. I'm interested to see if Demadas
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: Sabonis even takes on more of a playmaking role from
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: the front court. Certainly capable of doing some of that,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: but those players are a little bit deplicative, I think
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: more than anything else, guys, Sacramento's goal was to stay competitive.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: They did not want to just have a bunch of
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: prospects and future draft picks. This is a team that's
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: patiently been trying to climb the ladder in the Western
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Conference for two decades now. They finally broke through a
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: few years ago when they were the fourth seed, lost
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, but they don't want to go all the
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: way back to the bottom and then have a multi
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: year rebuild. So I do like it from a talent perspective.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: We'll see how the fit works out. But once Daron
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Fox made it clear to Sacramento that he wasn't going
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: to resign, the King started working the phone, and I
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: think this is probably the best they could do as
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: far as the combination of a player who can help
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: them stay competitive now in Zach Levine and some picks
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: going forward, including an unprotected first from Minnesota in twenty
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: thirty one that has a chance, you know, to be
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: a high upside pick depending on how the Timberwolves look
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: six or seven years from now.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Ryan, if you were running the front office in San Antonio,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: would you now let these two guys just play together,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: figure out and see what happens for the rest of
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: the year there are two games out of a playing position,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: or would you go get some more help at this
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: point to really try to make a push there.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: I think the Spurs can afford to be a little
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: bit patient now in the bill and see how it
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: works out because of what they retained in this deal. Yes,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: they gave up a decent amount. Anytime to get a
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: player of Aaron Fox's caliber, you have to give to get,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: and certainly they gave up value with the picks going
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: out in particular, But they retain their core young players
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: who have a lot of fans around the league, Stefan
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: Castle in particular, but also Jeremy Sohan, Devin Vassell, you know,
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: they Keldon Johnson. They have a lot of guys who
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: have value around the league in are good contracts. They
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: also have other draft assets their own and some coming
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: from other teams going forward as far as future picks.
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: So I'm guessing the Spurs, who usually operate relatively deliberately,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: want to see how it looks alongside Darren Fox and
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Victor Wemenyama and then if they need to upgrade the roster.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: It looks like Fox is going to re sign with them,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: probably this offseason. I'm guessing he does a three year
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: extension with the Spurs, So in that case, they'd have
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: him and women Yama locked up for the foreseeable future.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: And at that point, after having half a season and
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: maybe the playoffs to see how it looks. They can
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: decide what they need and decide if they need to
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: be more aggressive come July and August.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: Right. I think you made a great point about the
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: patience of this thing for San Antonio, because oftentimes you
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: see teams starting to chase and they can really disrupt
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: what they're trying to build. And I think there are
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: a couple of teams that have shown that. I think
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: Houston's done a good job of that. Orlando as well.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Teams where everyone's pushing them to try to go make
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: some deal that could ultimately make them better, when in reality,
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: and you know this as well as anybody, it could
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: actually work the opposite, have the opposite effect, and you
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: could go the other direction. So sometimes the best move
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: is to not make another move. If you have the
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: San Antonio Spurs.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: No question about it. I mean, think of their point
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: guard rotation now. It was a spot of weakness, and
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: I really criticized the Spurs last year for putting Jeremy
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Sohan on the ball. I thought that hurts Sohan and
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: in particular hurt Victor women Yama. Well, in the last
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: year or so, they've added Chris Paul, future Hall of
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Famer one of the best who ever played the position,
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: who imagine will now likely be in a backup role,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: and Dearon Fox, a twenty seven year old All star
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: point guard in his prime. Those kind of players don't
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: come on the trade market very often, and the Spurs
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: were able to get both of those guys Paul via
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: free agency and Fox via trade, without really touching the
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: core of their roster.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: So good business for San Antonio.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: And look at their timeline is whenever Victor wenmgnam is ready.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: We'll see if he's ready now with a better point
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: guard in de Aaron Fox. But because of those assets
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: they have, and because Victor is so young and under
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: team control for so long, there's no need for the
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Spurs to rush out and be super aggressive later this week.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: If a deal comes to them that upgrades their roster,
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: I'm certain they'll take it. But I think this was
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: the big trade deadline move they're going to make, and
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: now I'm fascinated to see how it works with Fox
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: and Wemby together on that court.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: I think it's a dynamic pick and roll duo and.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: GA getting back to Sacramento here with Zach Lavina. Over
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: the last couple of years, right, he's been hurt, the
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: numbers have been down, but this year he's been outstanding
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: this year, twenty four points a game, shooting fifty forty
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: from three. I mean, he's really re established himself as
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: one of the great guards in the league.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: Now, there's no question Zach Levine is a very talented player,
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: tremendous upside, and he does give them some continuity as
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Ryan was talking about, because you know, he can fill
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: a similar void, not the playmaker that Daron Fox is,
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: but from a scoring standpoint. And I love what he
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: said about Sabonis because Sabonis at that point center position
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: is a really good guy to play out of the
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: high post that you can run your offense through. He's
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: a pass first big to begin with.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: So I think that fit works.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: It's just but it doesn't necessarily elevate you.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Right, they're right.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: Now around five hundred. I don't know if they're going
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: to be able to move much beyond that. With that
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: roster has presently constructed, they haven't had some of the
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: push that they were hoping. You know, Keithen Murray hasn't
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: taken that step that they were kind of hoping that
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: he take. Kevin Hurder kind of fell out of the rotation,
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: wasn't shooting it the same way we had seen that
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: first year when they went to the postseason. So they're
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: still kind of in a state of flux, but just
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: to have these moves transpiring, you can tell teams now
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: are sensing the opportunities now to try to revamp their rosters.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: This is the first and I would not be surprised
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: that we see a few more moves.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exact Lavine and De Marta rozen reuniting again like
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: they were in Chi.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I'll go