January 29, 2025 • 20 mins
Jason Timpf discusses the top three trade destinations for Sacramento Kings star De'Aaron Fox including LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers, Jalen Green's Houston Rockets, and Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs.
Timeline:
00:00 - Why Kings should trade De'Aaron Fox
04:54 - #3: Los Angeles Lakers
11:24 - #2: San Antonio Spurs
14:34 - #1: Houston Rockets
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. This ain't the little itdy bitty teeny tiny Bowl.
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six nine Connecticut. Help us available for problem gambling Call
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see d KNG dot co slash audio. All right, welcome
(01:45):
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
(02:06):
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
(02:27):
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
(02:48):
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.
(03:09):
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
(03:31):
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
(03:52):
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
(04:13):
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,
(04:36):
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
(04:59):
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.
(05:24):
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,
(05:45):
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
(06:08):
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
(06:29):
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
(06:49):
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
(07:11):
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,
(07:34):
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
(07:56):
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
(08:17):
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,
(08:40):
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
(09:02):
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
(09:25):
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
(09:46):
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
(10:06):
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
(10:26):
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
(10:46):
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
(11:10):
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.
(11:33):
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
(11:55):
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
(12:15):
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
(12:37):
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
(12:58):
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
(13:18):
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
(13:39):
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
(14:00):
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
(14:22):
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
(14:42):
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
(15:03):
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
(15:28):
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
(15:49):
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,
(16:12):
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
(16:32):
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
(16:53):
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.
(17:13):
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
(17:34):
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.
(17:55):
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.
(18:19):
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
(18:40):
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
(19:01):
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
(19:24):
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
(19:45):
favorite destination for Dearon Fox. The volume. What's Up guys,
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
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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.
The volume. This ain't the little itdy bitty teeny tiny Bowl.
This is Super Bowl fifty nine. Get in on the
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(01:24):
hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources,
see d KNG dot co slash audio. All right, welcome
(01:45):
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
(02:06):
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
(02:27):
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
(02:48):
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.
(03:09):
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
(03:31):
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
(03:52):
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
(04:13):
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,
(04:36):
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
(04:59):
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.
(05:24):
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,
(05:45):
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
(06:08):
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
(06:29):
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
(06:49):
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
(07:11):
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,
(07:34):
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
(07:56):
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
(08:17):
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,
(08:40):
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
(09:02):
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
(09:25):
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
(09:46):
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
(10:06):
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
(10:26):
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
(10:46):
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
(11:10):
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.
(11:33):
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
(11:55):
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
(12:15):
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
(12:37):
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
(12:58):
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
(13:18):
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
(13:39):
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
(14:00):
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
(14:22):
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
(14:42):
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
(15:03):
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
(15:28):
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
(15:49):
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,
(16:12):
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
(16:32):
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
(16:53):
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.
(17:13):
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
(17:34):
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.
(17:55):
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.
(18:19):
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
(18:40):
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
(19:01):
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
(19:24):
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
(19:45):
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.
Host
Jason Timpf
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