Sacramento Kings: Complete 2017 offseason grades
Drafting De’Aaron Fox
The point guard position has been a specific area of turmoil for the Kings, as they have cycled through inconsistent options while letting the best options walk for little or nothing. Instead of Isaiah Thomas, the team has tried to cobble together a decent starter from the likes of Darren Collison, Ty Lawson and Rajon Rondo in recent years.
Now that time is past, as the Kings used the fifth overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft on Kentucky Wildcat De’Aaron Fox. The first words off the lips of those describing Fox aren’t about measurable stats, but rather the intangibles. Competitor. Driven. Culture. Teammate. Winner.
More from NBA Draft
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years
- Meet Matas Buzelis, the NBA’s next great point-forward
- Predicting the top 5 rookies heading into the 2023–24 NBA season
- NBA Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year
On the court Fox is no slouch. He averaged 16.7 points, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game for Kentucky. In the NCAA tournament, he dominated UCLA and fellow freshman guard Lonzo Ball, dropping 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field and 13-of-15 from the free throw line. His role in the NBA is clear – he handles the ball, pushes the tempo and attacks the basket.
Defensively he is an absolute menace, harrying ball-handlers and leaping into passing lanes to generate steals. His athleticism and motor give him triple-double upside down the road as well.
There are concerns, and they start with the jump shot. Fox has absolutely no range to speak of, hitting just 24.6 percent of his shots from outside last season on just 1.9 attempts per game. He is far enough from a jump shot that there isn’t even an expectation he will become a consistent shooter, just a faint hope.
Players can survive in the league without 3-point range, and many of Fox’s best comps — players such as Derrick Rose — had successful seasons without that knockdown shooting element to their game. But in today’s NBA, your upside is capped as a point guard if you cannot shoot.
The Kings don’t need a superstar point guard, however — they simply need competence. Fox will set the tone for this team on both ends of the court, and if Sacramento can develop shooters at the big positions then Fox’s fit becomes easier. For now, this is the type of player that this organization needed.
Grade: A