Sacramento Kings: Did the NBA draft portend a De’Aaron Fox trade?

The NBA Draft is often looked at as a time of excitement and hope for teams like the Sacramento Kings. For the Kings franchise, this marked the 15th straight season that they missed the playoffs and pinned their hope on the draft to change their future.

Given this, the selection of Davion Mitchell with the ninth overall pick was a stunner on draft night that brings about more questions than answers. This is not because Mitchell lacks the talent to be taken this high in the draft. He is arguably the best point-of-attack defender in the class and is a proven winner. After his run through the NCAA tournament with Baylor, the hype around his future reached an all-time high. However, his fit on the roster for the Sacramento Kings is suspect at best.

After the Sacramento Kings drafted a guard in the lottery in consecutive seasons, is the time nearing for a De’Aaron Fox split?

Finding ways to play De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Mitchell together will be a challenge. Fox is a streaky floor spacer at best. Mitchell exploded as a shooter last season (44.7 percent on 4.7 attempts per game) but prior to that, he was a career 31.2 percent shooter from distance. Haliburton is more than capable of spacing the floor but that simply is not enough. The goal should have been to add someone who can play alongside the backcourt that was already in place and instead the Kings have muddled the path forward heading into the exact season that Fox’s max contract extension kicks in.

The selection of Mitchell only makes sense if Fox was sent somewhere in a trade. Moving forward with a backcourt of Mitchell and Haliburton resets the financial burden on those positions for the time being and allows the Kings’ to better focus their assets elsewhere, such as in any sort of wing depth beyond Harrison Barnes or a replacement for the likely departure of Richaun Holmes.

The trade that may end up making the most sense for everyone involved is getting on the phone with Daryl Morey and broaching the topic of Ben Simmons. As the packages around the league seem to be getting worse, brokering a deal with Sacramento would allow the Philadelphia 76ers to overhaul their roster quickly. Something along the lines of swapping Tobias Harris and Simmons for Fox and the apparently available Buddy Hield (likely along with a pick or two) would change the future for both teams.

First, for the Sixers, they would add a dynamic playmaker who may not be a knockdown shooter, but he is certainly not going to shy away from taking a big shot in the moment. Hield finished third in 3-point attempts and makes this season. He would provide another dose of spacing around Joel Embiid that the Sixers certainly need. For the Kings, Simmons would finally be able to thrive in something like the role Draymond Green has made famous.

He would provide elite defense on the wing and hold his own down low while orchestrating breathtaking passes to generate open looks for his teammates. Harris is a borderline All-Star who would pair well on the wing with Barnes. This trade would make both teams better and would make the Mitchell selection significantly more logical.