Lakers among teams mentioned in latest De’Aaron Fox trade rumors
With De’Aaron Fox’s time tenure in Sacramento hitting rocky ground, the Lakers were among the teams recently mentioned as potential trade options for the guard.
While things have been on an upward trend for the Lakers in recent weeks, it has been quite the opposite for their Pacific Division rivals in Sacramento.
The Kings have lost five games in a row, partly thanks to the purple and gold themselves. During that losing streak — and specifically between the games against the Lakers — a report from Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic revealed that De’Aaron Fox’s future in Sacramento may not be certain.
While Kings officials talk often about the commitment to a long-term future with this group, there is an unmistakable urgency that comes with the present. Fox has just two seasons left on his deal, and league sources say the prospect of him entering free agency in the summer of 2026 remains in play — especially if he doesn’t make All-NBA this season.
As the losses have piled up recently, the noise has only grown. While no specific destination seems to be the favorite yet, it hasn’t stopped the speculation. On Friday’s episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective, Tim McMahon of ESPN mentioned the Lakers, though not in any seemingly serious capacity, as a name he’s heard mentioned for Fox.
“I’ve heard Lakers. It’s hard for me to tell how much of that is people jumping to conclusions because it’s a Klutch client”
McMahon mentioned the Lakers with a couple of other teams as well, so it wasn’t like the Lakers were the sole team discussed. And really, given the context they’re mentioned, it doesn’t feel like any strong reporting.
Still, that the Lakers are being discussed is noteworthy to some degree. Logistically, though, it’d be difficult to pull off a Fox trade unless he really forced his way out and to the Lakers specifically.
While getting to the $34.8 million Fox is making wouldn’t be much of an issue — D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura would make it work — the rest of the trade would be the issue. The Kings likely aren’t going to happily part ways with Fox and the Lakers would likely be near the bottom of the list of teams they’d like to see him dealt to.
On top of that, there will be other teams with more appealing packages than the Lakers for Fox.
But if the Lakers have a foot in the door, that’s at least something. If a player wants to go to a specific team, Klutch will make it happen and we know the connection between Klutch and the Lakers.
For now, though, that feels like the strongest case for Fox to land on the Lakers.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.