De’Aaron Fox trade rumors bringing surge of ‘bad energy’ to Sacramento Kings’ locker room
De’Aaron Fox was among the last to leave the visitor’s locker room at Paycom Center late Saturday night.
The mood in the room was somber and sullen following a 144-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. One by one, players slowly shuffled toward the door, wondering what was to come with Thursday’s NBA trade deadline fast approaching.
One thing was clear with trade rumors swirling around Fox, the 27-year-old point guard who has established a legacy as one of the best players in franchise history.
“I just think there’s a bad energy with the team right now,” Kings forward Trey Lyles said. “I think it’s pretty apparent whether it’s on the court or practice or stuff like that, so we’ve just got to get through that and hopefully we’ll be OK on the other side.”
Lyles was asked if the sense of doom and gloom was a product of all the uncertainty surrounding the team with the trade deadline looming.
“I’m sure it is,” Lyles said. “You never want to hear your name or your teammate’s name in that, and I think that’s a little bit of the negative energy and vibes that are coming into the locker room because of that. It’s unfortunate because we had a good thing rolling. Things happen during a season, but hopefully once that date is gone, we can turn this thing back around.”
Even Malik Monk, the most boisterous and upbeat player in the locker room, could sense something was wrong. Monk wasn’t sure if the bad vibes stemmed entirely from trade talks or the fact that the Kings had lost four of five on a grueling six-game trip that will take them to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
“It might be a little bit of both,” Monk said. “It might be the end of a trip. It might be just (the trade rumors). I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to figure that s--- out.”
The Kings, apparently sensing Fox’s unwillingness to sign a contract extension this summer, opened trade talks last week with the San Antonio Spurs widely believed to be Fox’s preferred destination. The Kings haven’t been the same since then.
“I think it just shows on the court, guys not playing hard, being lackadaisical, not being there for one another,” Lyles said. “There’s no real energy within the team on the court. As a player, it’s apparent to see.”
A source with knowledge of the Fox trade talks told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday that “nothing has changed,” adding “these things are hard to get across the border.”
Whether he stays or goes, Fox is ready for a resolution.
“I think everybody’s ready for one regardless if I’m traded or not,” Fox said. “I think usually after a trade deadline is when the air usually lightens.”
Staying together
The Kings went 10-2 in their first 12 games under interim coach Doug Christie, who took the helm when Mike Brown was fired Dec. 27, but now they are reeling amid so much uncertainty. Christie said he must find a way to keep the team united.
“It’s the job of the head coach and that’s where it’s going to fall,” Christie said. “That’s where the bullets are going to come. I’m going to own that. I’ve got to continue to make sure we are all on the same page, on the same sentence, on the same word and on the same syllable.”
That could be difficult.
DeMar DeRozan, Sacramento’s prized offseason acquisition, recently said he might have to reconsider his future with the Kings if Fox is traded.
“Yeah, it’s tough because looking at the landscape, before I came here, those are the guys I talked to was Fox, Domas (Domantas Sabonis) and Malik,” DeRozan said on FanDuel’s “Run It Back” podcast. “Those are the core guys that made it easy for me to make my decision to play here, and a key player, a key juggernaut in Fox, not knowing the future of that, it does make it tough.
“I don’t have much time left. I’m not trying to play another five years to try to maximize the opportunity we have now to play with a great team. You never know. When the dominoes fall the wrong way when it comes to an organization, it makes it tough. It’s something we’ve just got to wait out and see, but in the meantime make the most out of it, so we’ll see how it pans out.”
Destination unknown
Fox held his 6-month-old daughter, Poppy, in his arms as he got ready to leave the locker room late Saturday night. He talked about his 2-year-old son, Reign, admitting he had changed his mind about encouraging the boy to play tennis instead of basketball when he gets older.
Fox took his time in saying what felt like a long goodbye. He thanked locker room attendants, expressed appreciation for Kings staffers and then walked out the door, his destination unknown as the team headed to Minnesota.
One thing was clear. If this is the end for Fox after almost eight seasons in Sacramento, he will be missed.
“He’s the cornerstone, the superstar on the team, so you never want to see that guy go,” Lyles said. “And just on a personal level, for me personally, I don’t want to see that happen, but this is a business. If that’s what happens, that’s what happens, but whatever happens, as a team, we’ve got to find a way to move on.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM.
