Born into the Kingdom: Why Fox’s Sacramento departure was inevitable

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Born into the Kingdom: Why Fox’s Sacramento departure was inevitable originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It is the end of an era in Sacramento.

De’Aaron Fox stepped foot into Sacramento as a teenage rookie in 2017. He was the face of the franchise that endured many ups and downs. He was the driving force behind a lot of those ups, including snapping the Kings’ 17-year NBA playoff drought just two seasons ago.

Eight years later, he leaves behind the only NBA organization he’s known as a 27-year-old man, husband and father. An All-Star. All-NBA team. Clutch Player of the Year.

On Sunday, the Kings reportedly traded Fox to the San Antonio Spurs and acquired Zach LaVine from the Bulls in a multi-team deal that also sent Kevin Huerter to Chicago.

So how did the Kings go from taking Steph Curry and the then-defending champion Golden State Warriors to seven games in the first round of the 2023 playoffs to trading away their cornerstone player 644 days later?

Well, it began when Fox declined to sign a contract extension entering the 2024-25 season. Or did it?

Short-term, yes. Bigger picture, not exactly.

Long before the “Beam Team” stole the hearts of basketball fans around the world, there weren’t any purple lasers shooting out of Golden 1 Center during Fox’s first few seasons with the team.

The Kings won 27 games and finished 12th in the Western Conference during Fox’s rookie year. They finished 9th (39-43), 12th (31-41), 12th (31-41) and 12th (30-52) in the four seasons that followed, respectively.

He had three different coaches in that span, a general manager change and a blockbuster trade that completely shook things up when the Kings shipped former first-round draft pick Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers for Domantas Sabonis at the 2022 trade deadline.

Then the magical 2022-23 season happened. Under another new coach, Mike Brown, Fox and the Kings reached new heights. In a shocking turn of events, Sacramento was the West’s No. 3 seed and headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Fox was a first-time All-Star. All-NBA Third Team. The winner of the league’s first Clutch Player of…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/born-kingdom-why-foxs-sacramento-220245467.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-02 22:02:00

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