Sacramento Kings: De’Aaron Fox shall not be slept on

De’Aaron Fox deserves more national recognition for his contributions and value that he brings to the Sacramento Kings after having an impressive season.

I would describe Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox as underrated and undervalued compared to other point guards around the NBA. Let me tell you why and how his valuable contributions have led me to believe that he’s worth being talked about more.

Despite early struggles to begin the season, the Kings were in the midst of making a playoff push by the time the NBA announced to indefinitely suspend its season. The Kings currently stand 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the last spot in the NBA Playoffs.

However, they wouldn’t be anywhere near their current position if it wasn’t for the efforts of De’Aaron Fox. In his third NBA season at still only 22 years old, Fox was having an impressive season that went unnoticed for the most part.

There were proven glimpses of his special talent, impact and potential throughout the season, but it seems like most folks around the world aren’t paying attention to him. Fox doesn’t receive enough attention compared to other points guards around the league. The lack of recognition can be frustrating to Fox, but it mostly adds more motivation and determination to his mindset.

Fox doesn’t want to talk about his success as an individual. He has always put his team first and that is what’s going to help make him an NBA All-Star and elite point guard in the near future. The media has yet to talk about him that way this season while Fox will probably not talk about it himself, so I have volunteered to do the talking for him.

Before the hiatus, De’Aaron Fox was averaging 20.4 points per game, eighth among points guards in the league and led the Sacramento Kings with a Player Efficiency Rating of 20.3, ninth among point guards and 36th overall, per Basketball-Reference.

Fox was also averaging 6.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game on 47.5 percent shooting. Numbers don’t lie, and his stats in only his third season are very impressive. He’s already got the entire package needed to be a franchise point guard with his efficient scoring ability, high assist rate, and ability to control the pace of the game on both ends of the floor for his team.

There’s no doubt in my mind that De’Aaron Fox is the future of the Kings as he is still young with more room for growth, and I believe he has star potential. In fact, Fox reminds me of a young John Wall when he was an upcoming star with the Washington Wizards.

In comparison, besides the fact that they were both college basketball studs at the University of Kentucky, Wall averaged 18.5 points, 7.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 44.1 percent shooting in his third NBA season.

While Fox has similar stats to Wall in their third seasons, they also have a similar style of play. Both players utilize their explosiveness and quickness to take advantage on the court by efficiently scoring, distributing, dominating in transition and relentlessly defending.

John Wall became a superstar with his elite abilities on both ends of the floor and team-first mentality before his recent stretch of injuries, and I think De’Aaron Fox could do the same since he possesses those same features.

In addition, the Sacramento Kings will continue to build around their franchise point guard and find the support for him that he needs in order to establish a winning culture. It’s impressive enough how De’Aaron Fox has led Sacramento to where they currently stand this season when considering the lack of help surrounding him, a new head coach in Luke Walton leading to early struggles, and constant injuries haunting the team. Marvin Bagley III, the 2nd overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, has only played 13 games this season due to injury.

Once the Kings finish the process of developing a healthy squad and effective supporting cast around De’Aaron Fox, they will start to win more games and people will notice how talented and valuable Fox really is.

Time will tell, but Fox has a bright future ahead of him. I admire his mentality and confidence in himself. He doesn’t need national recognition to be satisfied, but he certainly deserves it with the season that he’s been having.

Fox is already the most valuable player for the Kings at 22 years old and will be for years to come with his special talents and contributions to the team. He may not receive much recognition at this point in his career, but don’t sleep on De’Aaron Fox moving forward.