Dubs steal emotional win from Grizz without Kerr

The Sacramento Kings are expected to open trade talks on a De’Aaron Fox deal ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline. While there are expected to be a number of teams interested, Fox is believed to already have a team in mind ahead of his 2026 free agency.

Before the start of the season, Fox turned down a three-year, $165 million contract extension with the Kings. Fox went on to say that he loves Sacramento, but also “wants to win.”

In December, agent Rich Paul met with the Kings’ brass in Sacramento, which opened up questions about Fox’s future. The Kings went on to part ways with Mike Brown as head coach and elevated Doug Christie as interim head coach.

The San Antonio Spurs are considered one of the teams positioning to trade for Fox, according to previous reports. The Los Angeles Lakers are not Fox’s preferred trade destination.

Fox is averaging 25.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 37.2 minutes across 43 games this season for the Kings. Fox has made one All-Star team and one All-NBA team, which both occurred in 2023.

Zach LaVine wants a trade from the Chicago Bulls. Depending on who you believe, LaVine may or may not have his sights set on the Los Angeles Lakers as his next team. For their part, the Lakers are reportedly interested in LaVine, provided they can center a trade around D’Angelo Russell.

One challenge in trading for LaVine is matching his $40.1 million salary in a deal. For the Lakers, that would likely start with Russell and his $17.3 million contract. The Lakers would need to add other players to a deal for LaVine. That would likely involve Rui Hachimura ($15.7 million) or, less likely, Austin Reaves ($12 million) to match salary for the Bulls star.

If either Hachimura or Reaves is involved in a trade, it will have to wait until January 15 to be completed. Because both players were signed with Bird right and got big enough raises over their prior salaries, the Lakers can’t trade them until January 15.

As for Russell, he waived his ability to block a trade as part of re-signing with Los Angeles this past summer. It’s been expected since Russell re-signed that if the Lakers make a significant trade that he would be a part of it.