De’Aaron Fox Is Heading To The Spurs In A Trade That Will Send Zach LaVine To The Kings

De’Aaron Fox‘s time as a member of the Sacramento Kings has come to an end. Fox, who was reportedly made available by the Kings in the lead-up to the deadline, is on his way out the door, as he’ll team up with Victor Wembanyama on the San Antonio Spurs in a blockbuster move that considerably shakes things up in the Western Conference.

The news of the deal was broken by Shams Charania of ESPN, who mentioned that this is a multi-team trade. While Fox is heading to the Spurs along with Jordan McLaughlin, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls is on his way to the Sacramento Kings with Sidy Cissoko. Sam Amick of The Athletic reports that Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, and Tre Jones will go to Chicago, while the Kings will get three future first-round picks (although, the 2025 lottery-protected Hornets pick will almost assuredly become two seconds). Charania also reported that the Bulls will acquire their own 2025 first-round pick back from the Spurs (which was top-10 protected). The complete trade details are below.

Spurs get: De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin
Kings get: Zach LaVine, three first round picks (2025 lottery-protected Hornets pick, 2027 Spurs, 2031 Timberwolves), and three second round picks (2025 Bulls, 2028 Nuggets, 2028 Kings)
Bulls get: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and their own 2025 pick back from the Spurs

Fox’s future in Sacramento had been the subject of speculation for some time, with reports coming out in the last week that the Kings were open to trading their star guard whose eyes were on the 2026 offseason, when he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent and could receive a 5-year deal worth up to $345 million. It was easy to presume that Fox would have his eyes on San Antonio if he ever wanted out, as he is a Texas native whose game fits extremely well alongside Wembanyama, and not long after the reports that he could hit the open market came out, additional reporting indicating that the Spurs were his preferred destination.

As for LaVine, much has been made of Chicago’s inability to move him on the heels of a contract extension he signed back in 2022 — the 5-year, $215 million max deal has one year remaining after this, along with a player option for 2026-27 worth just under $49 million. Perhaps it’s unsurprising that the conversation around LaVine has changed this season, as largely been able to remain healthy and has gotten back to being an efficient scorer who brings rebounding and playmaking to the Bulls. Now, he’ll reunite with former Chicago teammate DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento.

For the Bulls, it stands to reason that getting their 2025 first back means they’re going to further look to the future and focus on lottery balls to land someone from a loaded NBA Draft class. Given the pick was top-10 protected, it mostly alleviates a disaster scenario of falling to 11th in the lottery or something and not having their pick at all. While they got back some good pros in Huerter, Collins, and Jones, the team is currently 21-29 and holding onto the final Play-In spot in the Eastern Conference by a game.