NBA Trades: The Brooklyn Nets try to acquire De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings.
The Brooklyn Nets would make for an intriguing De'Aaron Fox destination. After all, they don't have a star on their roster and look to be in the very early stages of a potentially long rebuild.
With the Nets potentially facing their own long rebuild, they should examine all of their options, including trading for Fox. As far as trade packages go, they could ship out Cam Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic as well as three first-round picks to the Kings in exchange for Fox.
This trade package would have been a lot better if they still had Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder instead of trading them to the Golden State Warriors since it would have given the Kings a nice stopgap option at starting point guard. Be that as it may, even without Schroeder, it would be an interesting offer nonetheless.
After all, while the Kings would be taking a step back by trading their starting point guard, who has played like a star this season, they would be getting a valuable rotation player who is highly sought after. They would also be getting three first-round picks. Those picks would be all the more intriguing considering that Johnson is likely worth a first-round pick, potentially giving Sacramento more bang for their buck.
It wouldn't make them a better team in the short term, but it would give Sacramento a chance to retool around Domantas Sabonis and hopefully get even better in the next couple of seasons. That could be a big selling point for a deal between Brooklyn and Sacramento, with the Kings getting a good player to replace the one that they may have to ship out.
For the Nets, they could use Fox as bait to try and lure other stars to Brooklyn. The Nets have previously been linked to Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler, and they could have enough cap space to sign him away from the Heat this summer. That might not make them a contender, but paired with a high lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, they would be far better off than they are now.
Compared to the potential offers from the Spurs and Rockets, the Nets' offer is at least competitive, with Johnson being a better player than Johnson and Jones from San Antonio. Meanwhile, Johnson would also probably give Sacramento more return value than VanVleet would.
Add in three future firsts, and it would be a competitive offer that Sacramento should strongly consider if and when Fox is made available on the trade market. Perhaps the biggest hang-up in a hypothetical trade between the Kings and Nets is the Nets' future plans.
Fox is 27 years old, and adding him would put pressure on them to compete as soon as possible. Considering that they traded away a 27-year-old star over the summer in Mikal Bridges for five first-round picks, they appeared to have picked a direction, but they could have interest in Fox and make an offer.