De'Aaron Fox Rumors Suggest a Possible Trade to The Spurs

[BatManu20]

Hopefully this goes about as well as Pop's flight out to San Diego to try to convince nephew to stay in SA.

[scott]

Fox for Vassell is an upgrade, but we'll still be facing the same roster construction

I agree. Fox shouldn't be viewed as the missing piece, but rather just an upgrade to the existing puzzle. Right now the Spurs really only have 3 starting caliber players (Wemby, CP3, Barnes) on their roster, plus one promising rookie. Still lots of pieces to add, but I think many of those pieces can be attained with SRPs. If I had my way and was building this team... this is what I would do:

Vassell + worst of ATL/SA25, CHI25, the SAC31 swap, as many SRPs as needed (picks may require adjusting, but point is I want to make sure I have one of ATL or SA 25)
Tre Jones and multiple SRPs for Jonas.

We finish the season with this team:

CP3/Castle
Fox/Castle (this is a 3 man guard rotation, which is why you see Castle backing up both positions. Blake would handle any extra minutes as needed)
Champ/Keldon
Barnes/Sochan
Wemby/Jonas

In the offseason, I'm going after Santi Aldama and Jake Laravia from MEM. I'm going to see if CP3 will come back in a backup role, depending on what happens in the draft (I'm assuming we don't land Cooper flag). If CP3 isn't interested in that I see if I can get Coby White from CHI to be my 6th man in the 3-man guard rotation. Let's assume that scenario for now:

Fox/White
Castle/White
Barnes/Champ/Laravia
Santi/Sochan/Laravia
Wemby/Jonas

This is before considering who you might be adding with what will hopefull be a lottery pick. You can subs ute Naz Reid for Santi, though I have a feeling he might be harder to get and honestly I think I like Santi better personally, he's just a little more versatile.

[Teamduncan21]

I dont think that’s completely accurate. A few of us were hearing it was Clippers all along so it was not “Lakers” per se but “LA area”…but still. Your point remains. But at some point the risk of waiting becomes more than worth it if it means keeping all your assets and getting Fox too vs overpaying.

Luckily I dont really see SA overpaying here….things seem to be shaping up where leverage is being exerted and I dont think Kings are going to get some haul from SA or anyone as long as Rich Paul and Fox are holding firm that its SA or bust

I recall uncle felt disrespected that Lakers didn't offer the Davis package. Which implies Lakers don't value kawhi as much. That's partly why he went to clippers instead.

At that point a lot of fans are also unwilling to give Ingram. I recall their fans saying why should they give Ingram kuzma and 4 picks if kawhi gonna come anyway. End up he didn't go there.

While I agree not to overpay. Let's not get too y too

[Pauleta14]

I think they should do the trade soon if possible while the kings are still winning and think that they don't need him. That could change.

Devin Vassell
Tre Jones
Branham
2 FRPs

We need to keep Vassell if we get Fox.

I know he sucks rn, but he's such a talented shooter, he just needs more spacing and Fox will provide that with his penetrations.

(He also needs to accept his ceiling is elite role player, not "Kobe light" tbh, but just with Fox's arrival, that's the role he'll get by default)

Sochan Keldon Tre Collins Brahman to choose

[spurraider21]

this is still a thing

[BatManu20]

We need to keep Vassell if we get Fox.

I know he sucks rn, but he's such a talented shooter, he just needs more spacing and Fox will provide that with his penetrations.

(He also needs to accept his ceiling is elite role player, not "Kobe light" tbh, but just with Fox's arrival, that's the role he'll get by default)

Sochan Keldon Tre Collins Brahman to choose

Sacramento isn't going to trade their franchise player entering his prime for Sochan + picks lol. They also badly need shooting on their roster so Jeremy does very little for them. It would have to be Vassell at the very least, and realistically they will likely demand Castle instead of Vassell + a bunch of FRP's.

[rjv]

this is still a thing

i wonder if this is a last second effort to convince Fox to stay.

[Pauleta14]

Sacramento isn't going to trade their franchise player entering his prime for Sochan + picks lol. They also badly need shooting on their roster so Jeremy does very little for them. It would have to be Vassell at the very least, and realistically they will likely demand Castle instead of Vassell + a bunch of FRP's.

Keldon has an attractive decreasing deal and still a good hype around the league
Sochan could be useful with Sabonis's defensive limitations and maybe not too much a liability on offense with a lot of shooters
Tre is an attractive 10M expiring deal to free some cap space next summer

then you add 2-3 1RPs

Keep in mind if Fox tell them "it's only the Spurs or I'm leaving for free in 26", they don't have that much leverage.

[vy65]

this is still a thing

SAS Out:
Vassell, Branham, CHI25, SAS25, CHA25, SA27 (swap), SRPs

SAS In:
Fox
Patrick Mills

UTA Out:
John Collins

UTA In:
Vassell, Branham, CHI25, SAS25, CHA25, SA27 (swap), SRPs

SAC Out:
Fox
SAC In
Collins

Could adjust some picks going to SAC instead of UTA

[DPG21920]

SAS Out:
Vassell, Branham, CHI25, SAS25, CHA25, SA27 (swap), SRPs

SAS In:
Fox
Patrick Mills

UTA Out:
John Collins

UTA In:
Vassell, Branham, CHI25, SAS25, CHA25, SA27 (swap), SRPs

SAC Out:
Fox
SAC In
Collins

Could adjust some picks going to SAC instead of UTA

Bruh what??? Lol

[scott]

this is still a thing

Feels like the ingredients for a 3 team deal are all here...

[Seventyniner]

A couple of thoughts, for what they are worth (which I remind everyone, is nothing):

1. Interesting to me that now Demar is saying that if Fox is traded that will raise a lot of questions about his future in SAC. DDR said Fox is a huge reason he went to SAC, so if he was gone it would raise questions. SAC may actually view this as an opportunity. Trading Fox will also allow them to move Demar and get off of that mistake and build a more coherent roster. I won't put a lot of effort into options for them, but just off the top of my head Cam Johnson as their starting 3 instead of Demar unlocks a lot for them. A starting unit of Monk/Ellis/Cam/Murray/Sabonis with Vassell as the 6th man works a of a lot better than what they have now.

Imagine the meltdown here if both Fox and DDR are traded to the Spurs.

[KingKev]

Keldon has an attractive decreasing deal and still a good hype around the league
Sochan could be useful with Sabonis's defensive limitations and maybe not too much a liability on offense with a lot of shooters
Tre is an attractive 10M expiring deal to free some cap space next summer

then you add 2-3 1RPs

Keep in mind if Fox tell them "it's only the Spurs or I'm leaving for free in 26", they don't have that much leverage.

When you suck at basketball the decreasing contract isn’t attractive just less ugly.

[Uriel]

If reports about Fox only wanting to sign in San Antonio are true, then there is zero incentive to trade for him now. Play out the rest of the season, get a lottery pick for your trouble, participate in the Cooper Flagg lottery sweepstakes, then trade for Fox in the offseason when the asking price will go down and you have will more clarity on what your picks will look like.

[LeBowen]

If Vassell is traded, we get a far more reliable scorer, but the question becomes how do we replace that 2nd level scoring that he would have provided? we will need additional scoring to replace him and will also still desperately need a big.

He's not providing , tbh.
8-7 without Vassell.
5-6 when he comes off the bench.
7-10 when he starts.

We're talking about a player who's missed 25% games in his career, never had a single double double, is obviously a negative on defense. Fine, he's a scorer?
Well, he's got 6 games with 30+ points in 268 career games.

Him and Keldon provide absolutely nothing to this team except for empty stats here and there.

Fox for Vassell is an upgrade, but we'll still be facing the same roster construction that doesn't rebound, shoot or defend. It's a step in the right direction but not a huge one, IMHO. At least if we hold onto Vassell, he becomes that clear 3rd option and we can actually score with the best of them. Still would need a stretch 4/5 type to seal up the SL.

As I already wrote, 3pt shooting isn't actually that bad. 6th in attempts and 13th in makes. Could be better, but is fine.
On the other hand, the offense grinds to a halt whenever the set gets broken down and we take bad shots.
It's either Castle or Keldon with low-percentage drives (others can't even get to the rim), Wemby's awnkward isos that usually end in turnovers or everyone chucking contested 3pts because we can't get a better shot.

We need a reliable paint penetrator who can collapse the defense. Fox is one of the best in the league at it and would solve a lot of our issues on offense.
He's not an amazing defender, but definitely better than Devin and they're almost identical in size, despite what official measurements say.

If Devin continues underperforming like this, we'll have to get rid of him pretty soon, he'll be a negative asset.
Our starting lineup with Champagnie was doing just fine.

[Dverde]

Hopefully this goes about as well as Pop's flight out to San Diego to try to convince nephew to stay in SA.

How can you say no to that face.

[scott]

Imagine the meltdown here if both Fox and DDR are traded to the Spurs.

Haha.

Honestly though, if DDR were on a better contract (like 2/40), I wouldn't hate it.

CP3
Fox
DDR
Barnes
Wemby

With Castle in the 3 man guard rotation?

Sounds like a much better on the court product than what we've been forced to watch the last 6 years. Short term DDR wouldn't be horrible. I think Chinook (come back, buddy) might like it

[scott]

If reports about Fox only wanting to sign in San Antonio are true, then there is zero incentive to trade for him now. Play out the rest of the season, get a lottery pick for your trouble, participate in the Cooper Flagg lottery sweepstakes, then trade for Fox in the offseason when the asking price will go down and you have will more clarity on what your picks will look like.

I generally agree although there is an important caveat that time does not stand still, and Fox only wanting to sign in San Antonio right now does not mean Fox will only want to sign in San Antonio in 5 months.

[spurraider21]

every time i see vivek's face i think of this old bit



based on a true story

[Dverde]

Spurs played ball on Rich Paul’s request to move Dejounte exactly where he wanted to go. He knows them. He wouldn’t be doing this if the Spurs had no interest.

[scott]

Spurs played ball on Rich Paul’s request to move Dejounte exactly where he wanted to go. He knows them. He wouldn’t be doing this if the Spurs had no interest.

This is the returning of favors I was talking about. It would be wise of SAC to do Rich and his client a solid on their preferred destination, because like Pepperidge Farm, Rich Paul remembers.

[rjv]

He's not providing , tbh.
8-7 without Vassell.
5-6 when he comes off the bench.
7-10 when he starts.

We're talking about a player who's missed 25% games in his career, never had a single double double, is obviously a negative on defense. Fine, he's a scorer?
Well, he's got 6 games with 30+ points in 268 career games.

Him and Keldon provide absolutely nothing to this team except for empty stats here and there.



As I already wrote, 3pt shooting isn't actually that bad. 6th in attempts and 13th in makes. Could be better, but is fine.
On the other hand, the offense grinds to a halt whenever the set gets broken down and we take bad shots.
It's either Castle or Keldon with low-percentage drives (others can't even get to the rim), Wemby's awnkward isos that usually end in turnovers or everyone chucking contested 3pts because we can't get a better shot.

We need a reliable paint penetrator who can collapse the defense. Fox is one of the best in the league at it and would solve a lot of our issues on offense.
He's not an amazing defender, but definitely better than Devin and they're almost identical in size, despite what official measurements say.

If Devin continues underperforming like this, we'll have to get rid of him pretty soon, he'll be a negative asset.
Our starting lineup with Champagnie was doing just fine.

you get too emotional sometimes. i'm not advocating to keep him. i'm simply pointing out the obvious. it doesn't matter how many times he's scored more than 30 in his career in regards to this point. the spurs will need to come up with another body who could become that second level scorer. it's not julian, or branham or anyone else. i hope Scott is right and that this player can be found somewhere in the 2nd round.

[scott]

you get too emotional sometimes. i'm not advocating to keep him. i'm simply pointing out the obvious. it doesn't matter how many times he's scored more than 30 in his career in regards to this point. the spurs will need to come up with another body who could become that second level scorer. it's not julian, or branham or anyone else. i hope Scott is right and that this player can be found somewhere in the 2nd round.

One clarification, I'm not suggesting we can get that guy in the second round... I'm saying we can use second rounders to trade for him (or maybe a first, or maybe you draft that guy, or maybe you get him in FA). Lots of different ways to solve that problem (and I agree it's a problem that we need to solve), but it is a solvable problem (and it's one we need to solve anyway, regardless of getting Fox).

I pretty much assume we won't get any worthwhile players with our SRPs. Tre was the last one we drafted who made any kind of contribution to the team, and since then we've basically just punted all of them to the moon or used them on guys like Joel Wisenheimer, Sidy and Harrison Ingram. I'm still pissed we passed up Ajay Mitc with our SRP last year, he was a guy I really liked. I did not have Jaylen Wells breaking out on my bingo card though (I don't remember anyone here talking about him honestly, kudos to MEM's college scouting dept)

[scott]

Hopefully this goes about as well as Pop's flight out to San Diego to try to convince nephew to stay in SA.

To me this says that we shouldn't expect any deal until Sunday at the earliest.

[DPG21920]

Yup. This will drag out until maybe a day or two of deadline Im guessing.