Fox (5) immediately speeds up the Spurs’ timeline. / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I promise I’m not being facetious when I say that I literally had no idea the Pro Bowl took place until I saw the final score this morning.
In today’s SI:AM:
It wasn’t nearly as shocking as Saturday night’s Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis blockbuster, but Sunday night saw its own blockbuster trade with significant implications for the rest of the NBA season.
The Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls pulled off a three-team deal that will send De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs and Zach LaVine to the Kings. It’s a fairly complicated trade involving a total of 12 players and picks, but the upshot is that the Spurs are giving up a lot to acquire another star player to pair with Victor Wembanyama.
San Antonio is giving up four first-round picks (three of which are headed to Sacramento), a second-round pick and three players (Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Sidy Cissoko) as part of the deal. The Spurs will also receive veteran backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin. In addition to Fox, the Kings also gave up Kevin Huerter, who’s going to Chicago along with Collins, Jones and one of the first-rounders from the Spurs.
Fox had asked for a trade last week, and the Spurs will benefit from his request by acquiring a player who jumpstarts their rebuild. Wembanyama has lived up to expectations since debuting last season, winning the Rookie of the Year and finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in his first season, but the Spurs were significantly lacking additional starpower.
Fox isn’t an MVP-caliber player. He has only made one All-Star team in his career (two years ago). But he’ll immediately become the second best player on the Spurs. He’s a solid offensive player, equally capable of scoring in bunches and facilitating the offense, and one of the best defensive point guards in the league. He currently ranks 16th among active players in steals per game. Pairing a perimeter defender like Fox with an interior force like Wembanyama is trouble for opposing offenses.
The Spurs were terrible last season, despite Wembanyama’s strong debut. They finished with the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 22–60, the same record they had a year earlier. They’ve been much better this season but still haven’t been playoff-caliber. At 21–25, San Antonio is poised to equal last season’s win total before the All-Star break. But the team is still in 12th place in the West, two games behind 10th place and the final spot in the play-in tournament.
San Antonio made a few moves this offseason to be more competitive in Wembanyama’s second year, signing Chris Paul and trading for Harrison Barnes to give the team some veteran leadership. It also drafted Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick. Adding Fox is the biggest move the Spurs have made in years, though (excluding the no-brainer of drafting Wembanyama, of course). Paul and Barnes are complementary pieces whose value to San Antonio is derived primarily from their veteran leadership. Castle is also a secondary piece for now, ranking fourth on the team with 12.0 points per game. Those are the kinds of players winning teams need, but they were never going to lead a playoff charge.
Adding Fox doesn’t instantly vault the Spurs into championship contention, but he should give them a real chance at a playoff spot. San Antonio is just 5.5 games back of sixth place in the West, which would mean avoiding the play-in tournament, and 4.5 games back of seventh place, which would mean having home court in the play-in (and a second chance opportunity if it loses the first play-in game). But this trade wasn’t just about this season. The Spurs were never going to contend for a championship this season, and the Fox trade doesn’t change that. But he’s under contract through the end of next season, and San Antonio can spend the next year-and-a-half making the case for why he should sign an extension. If the Spurs can keep him around past the end of his current contract, they’ll have the basis of a championship-caliber team.
The sports world is still reeling from the Lakers’ acquisition of Doncic (center). / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Jaren Jackson Jr.’s seventh three of the night. He had a game-high 37 points as the Grizzlies beat the Bucks.
4. Morgan Frost’s sweet stick handling for his first goal with the Flames.
3. Caitlin Clark’s introduction before her jersey retirement ceremony at Iowa.
2. Justin Rose’s eagle on the 18th at Pebble Beach.
1. Cam Davis’s chip from off a tree root.
Published 1 Hour Ago|Modified 12:07 PM EST
