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Speaker 1: see d KNG dot co slash audio. All right, welcome
Speaker 1: to tonight. You're at the volume heavy Wednesday. Everybody. Hope
Speaker 1: all of you guys are having a great week. Just
Speaker 1: a very quick show for you today. We got a
Speaker 1: report yesterday that Rich Paul went to the Sacramento Kings
Speaker 1: and said, hey, you know what, you should probably look
Speaker 1: into trading Darren Fox because he's not going to commit
Speaker 1: to the team in the long run. So in today's show,
Speaker 1: we're gonna briefly talk about what that means for the
Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings. And then I'm gonna give you guys my
Speaker 1: three favorite Dear and Fox trade destinations. You guys are
Speaker 1: the job. Before we get started, to subscribe to the
Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of
Speaker 1: our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so
Speaker 1: you guys don't miss you announcements. Don't forget about a
Speaker 1: podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.
Speaker 1: It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and
Speaker 1: a review on that front. And the last, but not least,
Speaker 1: keep dropping mailbag questions and the YouTube comments so we
Speaker 1: can keep hitting them on Fridays throughout the remainder of
Speaker 1: this season. All right, let's talk some basketball before we
Speaker 1: go into darreon Fox potential destinations. I want to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about the Sacramento Kings. So, on the
Speaker 1: one hand, I've always had a level of respect for
Speaker 1: franchises that demonstrate self awareness. I don't I understand some
Speaker 1: of the pursuit of like maintaining a certain level of
Speaker 1: competence so that you just look like a good basketball
Speaker 1: team and you're good to your fans in that way.
Speaker 1: But I also think that being aware of the fact
Speaker 1: that not close to where you want to be is
Speaker 1: an important step in getting to where you want to be,
Speaker 1: Right Like, you got to admit that you're not what
Speaker 1: you want to be first before you can get there.
Speaker 1: Rich Paul informed the Kings that they should trade him.
Speaker 1: That doesn't necessarily mean that Darren Fox would leave. As
Speaker 1: we know, free agency in this league has changed a
Speaker 1: lot over the course of the last ten years or so.
Speaker 1: Right there aren't exactly a lot of teams out there
Speaker 1: that are just working with max cap space, at least
Speaker 1: not good teams. Right Like, most good teams are perpetually
Speaker 1: operating above the cap. So it's difficult to leave in
Speaker 1: free agency and not end up in another bad situation.
Speaker 1: Back in the day, the reason why that worked is
Speaker 1: there were lots of guys that were entering free agency
Speaker 1: every summer because they weren't signing extensions with their teams
Speaker 1: because they wanted to do it through free agency. Then
Speaker 1: they could link up with a couple of buddies and
Speaker 1: be like, Hey, I'm gonna go here, you want to
Speaker 1: meet me over there? Okay, sounds good, but that's not
Speaker 1: how it is. Anymore. You're not seeing two, three, four
Speaker 1: high profile free agents hitting free agency at the same
Speaker 1: time and being willing to go sign with some other team. Right. So,
Speaker 1: like most, more often than not, these guys are extending
Speaker 1: with their teams and then demanding a trade. Right, But
Speaker 1: we also know that the Kings are not even close
Speaker 1: to being good enough to win a first round playoff
Speaker 1: series in this league. So in short, even if you
Speaker 1: were to somehow manage to re sign deeron Fox, it
Speaker 1: would likely be in the context of an eventual trade anyway. Right,
Speaker 1: Let's say you can't find a deal you like this year.
Speaker 1: You play hardball again this summer at the deadline next year,
Speaker 1: teams aren't willing to give up a Ton because he
Speaker 1: only has six months left on his deal, or you know,
Speaker 1: a few months left on his deal. You end up
Speaker 1: in the summertime you've worked out a deal with Rich Paul,
Speaker 1: You signed some sort of long term contract, but then
Speaker 1: a year later he's demanding a trade. Now he makes
Speaker 1: fifty plus million, and he's a lot harder to match
Speaker 1: salary for. You could actually argue trading Fox now nets
Speaker 1: you more than you will ever get for him. At
Speaker 1: a point in the future because now he has this
Speaker 1: super manageable salary and as of right now, he still
Speaker 1: has a full year and a half on his deal.
Speaker 1: Now there's a chance that when you get to this summer,
Speaker 1: you can still move. And we have an example of that.
Speaker 1: Right everyone was saying, oh, the Pelicans have to trade
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis in the trade deadline of that twenty nineteen season.
Speaker 1: They waited till the summer. It turns out the Lakers
Speaker 1: are willing to pay just as much. Right So, the
Speaker 1: way I see it, you've got this window of time
Speaker 1: to trade Deer and Fox at this deadline and over
Speaker 1: this summer. I think once you get past that summer
Speaker 1: and you get into next year's trade deadline, now you're
Speaker 1: talking about the it's only potentially a few months rental
Speaker 1: that could affect value, and when you're on the next deal,
Speaker 1: now he makes a shit ton of money that could
Speaker 1: affect value. Right, So, like, this is your opportunity here
Speaker 1: to at the deadline, dangle him out there and see
Speaker 1: if you can't get the best possible offer, and if
Speaker 1: you don't get the best pop up possible offer, then
Speaker 1: you take the best available offer. When you get to
Speaker 1: this summer, So in short, I do think that they
Speaker 1: should trade him. I think that now or this summer
Speaker 1: is the right timeline to do so. And I think
Speaker 1: it's a nice little reflection of self awareness from the
Speaker 1: Kings to realize that they're not close and that they've
Speaker 1: got a really good asset here that they could potentially move.
Speaker 1: You could argue they could do the same thing with
Speaker 1: demartros in demonest the bonus, but from what I tell,
Speaker 1: From what I can tell, it seems like the Kings
Speaker 1: want to remain at least somewhat relevant, and so I
Speaker 1: think Deared Fox is the kind of player that can
Speaker 1: bring you some win now pieces as well as draft
Speaker 1: compensation to boost you for the future. So let's get
Speaker 1: into our top three Daron Fox trade destinations and number three.
Speaker 1: This one is completely and totally unrealistic, but I want
Speaker 1: to just have some fun with it, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let my Lakers fan bias come in here for a second.
Speaker 1: Number three the Los Angeles Lakers. And again, for the
Speaker 1: record up front, I think there's a zero percent chance
Speaker 1: of this happening because of the rivalry that exists between
Speaker 1: the Kings and the Lakers. King's ownership would have a
Speaker 1: very hard time explaining to their fans why they sent
Speaker 1: Daron Fox to Los Angeles. But just for fun, I
Speaker 1: want you guys just to hear this one out as
Speaker 1: like a more of a thought exercise in terms of
Speaker 1: value in two situations. What if the Lakers called up
Speaker 1: the Kings and they offered Ruey Hotchimura, Austin Reeves, Dalton Connect,
Speaker 1: Jalen hoods Chaffino, and both first round picks unprotected for
Speaker 1: Darren Fox and Jordan McLaughlin. Interestingly enough, I actually like
Speaker 1: this deal more for the Kings than I like it
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. This is a Kings team that I've
Speaker 1: been talking about now for two years desperately needs a bigger,
Speaker 1: stronger power forward to help next to Demona Sabonis. They've
Speaker 1: had Harrison Barnes, They've used small ball looks, They've had
Speaker 1: Trey Lyles in there a lot. Getting a guy like
Speaker 1: Ruey Hotchimura represents a legitimate upgrade at the power forward
Speaker 1: spot that the Kings have needed for years now. You
Speaker 1: could shoot the ball really well. Compliments to Bonus. Ruey's
Speaker 1: biggest weakness is rebounding, which is Demonisa Bonus's biggest strength
Speaker 1: at something that he can help him with. He's a
Speaker 1: guy that as you're running your action with the ball
Speaker 1: gets skipped to the corner. He's like a legitimate week
Speaker 1: side spacer. Ruey has his flaws, and he's playing out
Speaker 1: of position for the Lakers, which has accentuated those flaws.
Speaker 1: But I think he's a perfectly fine power forward in
Speaker 1: this league and in a legit upgrade for the Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is an incredible skill guard that Kings fans
Speaker 1: would love, and he slots really nicely next to Keon Ellis.
Speaker 1: I know non Lakers fans like to talk shit about
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves. I'm just telling you as someone who's rooted
Speaker 1: for him for the last three years. He's awesome and
Speaker 1: a guy like Dearon Fox is like the only it's
Speaker 1: like the bottom level of the caliber of player that
Speaker 1: I would be willing to give Austin up for. Austin
Speaker 1: is legit. He would immediately help the Kings right away,
Speaker 1: slots in beautifully next to an athletic defensive guard in
Speaker 1: Keon Ellis, and you get Dalton connect as a prospect
Speaker 1: for the future. In addition to those two first round picks,
Speaker 1: which are almost certainly going to be high picks because
Speaker 1: the Lakers are really incompetent. When Lebron James and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis hang them up, or when at least Lebron hangs
Speaker 1: them up, they're going to really struggle to succeed. So
Speaker 1: you get a good mix of future talent to go
Speaker 1: with win now pieces in Austin and Ruie. To put it, simply,
Speaker 1: turning Daron Fox into Austin Reeves and Ruey Hachimura, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, keeps the Kings more or less in the
Speaker 1: same kind of like level of contention that they are
Speaker 1: currently in. Meanwhile, for the Lakers, you finally get your
Speaker 1: legit star shot creator to pair with Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, specifically a guy in Fox who brings a
Speaker 1: unique combination of downhill burst and pull up shooting. All
Speaker 1: of the perimeter initiators for the Lakers struggle to get downhill,
Speaker 1: except for Lebron when he's playing hard, which he only
Speaker 1: does really from time to time in the regular season
Speaker 1: and then in the postseason. Even then, it's more of
Speaker 1: like a bully ball type of attack. Austin Dilo when
Speaker 1: he was here, Gabe, These guys struggled to beat people
Speaker 1: off the dribble and get downhill. Austin when he's at
Speaker 1: his absolute best can do it, but it's not like
Speaker 1: a consistent night to night kind of thing. Dearon Fox
Speaker 1: would immediately bring that level of downhill burst to make
Speaker 1: things easier for the Lakers offense in the half court. Also,
Speaker 1: Dearon Fox is really good at those playoff shots, like
Speaker 1: those like mid range pull up jump shots that you
Speaker 1: hit in ball screens, like oh, things are breaking down
Speaker 1: or playing an elite defense. We need something to create,
Speaker 1: somebody to create something. Darren Fox can help with that.
Speaker 1: You also would represent a pivot point for a rebuild
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. So what do you do in the
Speaker 1: era post Lebron? You don't have anything at this point
Speaker 1: that would justify any sort of pivot. It would be
Speaker 1: like if Lebron's done, you trade Anthony Davis too, and
Speaker 1: you blow the whole damn thing up. Bringing a guy
Speaker 1: like Dearon Fox, Darren Fox and Anthony Davis is a
Speaker 1: legitimate foundation to try to start a kind of like
Speaker 1: pivot rebuild. At that point, you could take one season,
Speaker 1: or you take on some bad contracts and let those
Speaker 1: guys play, try to recoup some assets and then try
Speaker 1: to pivot at some point in the next couple of
Speaker 1: years and make another run. I think Dearreon Fox would
Speaker 1: help with that. My main concerns there for the Lakers
Speaker 1: would be it would be very difficult to find a
Speaker 1: second deal at that point, so like, for instance, they
Speaker 1: wanted to get a backup center, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: now that Anthony Davis has an abdominal strain, could be
Speaker 1: a legitimate problem here in the big picture, you're not
Speaker 1: in the second round pick market any or you're not
Speaker 1: in the first round pick market for centers anymore. You're
Speaker 1: not getting Walker Kessler. If the price for Robert Williams
Speaker 1: turns out to be a protected first round pick, you're
Speaker 1: not getting Walker or you're not getting Robert Williams, right,
Speaker 1: So like it would be one of those deals that
Speaker 1: could leave more holes on the Lakers roster. But then
Speaker 1: you still have this like fundamental like I can march
Speaker 1: out Daron Fox, Max Christy, Dorian Finney, Smith, Lebron James,
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis. Is that five good enough to win
Speaker 1: the championship? And I think they are. That five is legitimate.
Speaker 1: It would be the bench and the depth stuff that
Speaker 1: could be a problem. But you'd still have Jared Vanderbilt, right,
Speaker 1: You'd still have Gabe Vincent, you would still have pieces
Speaker 1: off the bench that could help. You would just be
Speaker 1: thin in that regard to be a top end talent
Speaker 1: type of play. So, as I said, interestingly enough, I
Speaker 1: think I'm more on the fence for that one for
Speaker 1: the Lakers than I am for the Kings. I think
Speaker 1: the Kings actually get a lot more in the way
Speaker 1: of like helps you win right away type of pieces
Speaker 1: in terms of Austinaries and Riya Chimura and picture future
Speaker 1: talent in terms of Dalton connect in first round draft
Speaker 1: compensation number two for my favorite dearon Fox Destinations, the
Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs. Now who goes out in this deal
Speaker 1: is super complicated. The Kings are not allowed to take
Speaker 1: back Harrison Barnes in that deal because they just sent
Speaker 1: him to San Antonio in a trade this summer, and
Speaker 1: the Spurs don't have much in the way of win
Speaker 1: now pieces to offer, like if Sacramento wants to demand
Speaker 1: win now pieces so that they can maintain some semblance
Speaker 1: of competence in the short term. San Antonio is gonna
Speaker 1: struggle offering pieces along those lines, so it might very
Speaker 1: well end up being a three team deal to facilitate
Speaker 1: something like this. But for the sake of keeping things simple,
Speaker 1: let's just zero in on the fit between Daron Fox
Speaker 1: and Victor Wimanyela. Darren Fox personally shoots fifty five percent
Speaker 1: from the field field goal percentage as the ball handler
Speaker 1: and pick and roll. That's one point zero nine points
Speaker 1: per shot among the fifteen players in the NBA that
Speaker 1: logged at least three hundred possessions to this point in
Speaker 1: the season as a shooter in pick and roll, meaning
Speaker 1: they took the shot as the ball handler and pick
Speaker 1: and roll. He ranks third out of those fifteen players
Speaker 1: in efficiency per shot. Only Jalen Brunson and Darius Garland
Speaker 1: have been better. He's ahead of guys like Shay Gilds,
Speaker 1: Alexander and Damian Lillard. Deeron Fox has been one of
Speaker 1: the very best shot makers in pick and roll all year.
Speaker 1: The Spurs don't have anything close to that. Steph Castle
Speaker 1: gets zero point eight to one points per shot in
Speaker 1: ball screens, and I love Steph Castle. I would not
Speaker 1: give him up in a Deeron Fox deal. But he's
Speaker 1: not close to being ready to meet Victor wembin Yama
Speaker 1: in terms of the level of offensive player as a
Speaker 1: ball handler he needs to be for a serious basketball team.
Speaker 1: Devin Vessel, he shoots forty two percent in ball screens,
Speaker 1: zero point eight one points per shot. That's the same
Speaker 1: as Steph Castle. Chris Paul shoots forty four percent. That's solid,
Speaker 1: zero point ninety five points per shot in ball screens.
Speaker 1: That's okay, but his volume is hilariously low. He's only
Speaker 1: they made sixty one shots in ball screens this year.
Speaker 1: Darren Fox, for comparison, has made one hundred and thirty six,
Speaker 1: so more than twice as often or more than twice
Speaker 1: as many times this year as Darren Fox scored as
Speaker 1: the ball handler in ball screens. So, simply put, the
Speaker 1: Spurs don't have anything close to a serious ball screen
Speaker 1: threat to pair with Victor wembin Yama right now. Darren
Speaker 1: Fox is older than Victor wemen Yama, but not old
Speaker 1: enough to make you feel pressure in terms of a
Speaker 1: timeline like I still feel like Fox and Wemby could
Speaker 1: easily put together more than a half decade of really
Speaker 1: high level basketball together. It's not like a, Oh, we
Speaker 1: make this move. We have two or three years to
Speaker 1: make this work. No, he's he's in his twenties. There's
Speaker 1: a real long term window to try to make that
Speaker 1: partnership work. And as I've said many times on this show,
Speaker 1: Dearn Fox is kind of the perfect defensive fit with
Speaker 1: Wemby because he's more of an aggressive, turnover forcing defender
Speaker 1: than a contain the ball type of defender. He's had
Speaker 1: seventeen games this year with multiple steals. He led the
Speaker 1: league in steels last year. So if you were to
Speaker 1: look to pair Wemby with the Star, I don't think
Speaker 1: you can do much better than Fox. He's a seamless
Speaker 1: fit on both ends of the floor. He's a medium
Speaker 1: sized salary that isn't overly difficult to match, and he
Speaker 1: fits the timeline of what you're trying to accomplish. But
Speaker 1: my favorite Darren Fox fit in light of the rise
Speaker 1: of this team as of late, is the Houston Rockets. Now,
Speaker 1: for the record, I saw a report from Mark Stein
Speaker 1: that the Rockets really want to ride this out and
Speaker 1: just see what this team is capable of. Normally, i'd
Speaker 1: agree when there isn't a rush. However, there are two
Speaker 1: reasons why I think that's a bad idea. One, I
Speaker 1: don't need to watch the playoffs to know exactly what's
Speaker 1: going to happen with this Rockets team. They're going to
Speaker 1: lose no later than the second round, and it's going
Speaker 1: to be because they can't score the basketball. Why Because
Speaker 1: they're perimeter initiators are Jalen Green, who basically just takes
Speaker 1: pull up threes and drives into a half dozen bodies
Speaker 1: every time he faces a good defense, and Fred van Vliet,
Speaker 1: who can't get separation from elite defenders. And when you
Speaker 1: combine that with literally all of their catch and shoot
Speaker 1: guys being somewhat streaky, it's inevitable. I don't know why
Speaker 1: you would need to see that in order to believe it.
Speaker 1: And for all of you who are like, oh, the
Speaker 1: Rockets their top ten offense, they're bottom ten and half
Speaker 1: court offense. So it literally just takes a team that
Speaker 1: has an elite defense that takes care of the basketball
Speaker 1: and it just executes well and doesn't turn the ball over,
Speaker 1: and there they're screwed. They're not going to be able
Speaker 1: to score when they're stuck in the half court against
Speaker 1: an elite defense. In the postseason. So like, I'm a
Speaker 1: huge fan of what the Rockets are doing. I'm a
Speaker 1: big believer in them, but they have such a crippling
Speaker 1: weakness and perimeter shock creation that I just don't view
Speaker 1: it as a viable solution, like as a viable championship team.
Speaker 1: Put it simply, look at the Celtics game for an example.
Speaker 1: They got nothing from Fred and nothing from Jalen. It
Speaker 1: just so happens that Dylan Brooks made every damn three
Speaker 1: he took and Aman Thompson at the best game of
Speaker 1: his career to make up for that offensive limitation. That's
Speaker 1: a game they lose by fifteen if Dylan doesn't shoot
Speaker 1: the ball the way that he shot in that game.
Speaker 1: So like, I don't know what exactly they need to see.
Speaker 1: Take it back to like Oka see last year fundamentally different, Like,
Speaker 1: let's see what these guys got. Maybe they can beat Dallas.
Speaker 1: I don't know whether or not Shay has enough offensive help.
Speaker 1: Let's see it. I wanted to see what Okac could do.
Speaker 1: I don't need to see what Houston can do to
Speaker 1: know that Fred and Jalen are not enough. The second
Speaker 1: reason is I think the Rockets have a legitimate, real
Speaker 1: shot to win the title if they make this type
Speaker 1: of move. Their defense is very much built to handle
Speaker 1: the top teams in this league. They have repeatedly guarded Boston,
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, and Cleveland really well in the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: They have the perimeter athletes to match up. They have physicality,
Speaker 1: They can cause serious problems for those teams. Like at Cleveland,
Speaker 1: it's like a legitimate mismatch. You saw what they did
Speaker 1: to Boston too. They have the defensive build to win
Speaker 1: the title. I like Shane Goon, I like their transition attack.
Speaker 1: They just need a much more reliable perimeter shot creator.
Speaker 1: The Rockets also have this Fred van Vliet salary. It's
Speaker 1: forty plus million dollar salary that they can use as
Speaker 1: a piece to actually like as salary ballast, so that
Speaker 1: they don't have to dip into all of their depth
Speaker 1: of role player talent to try to facilitate a deal.
Speaker 1: And they have ten first round picks between now and
Speaker 1: twenty thirty one, so they have the ability to go
Speaker 1: to Sacramento and be like, hey, seamless swap will go.
Speaker 1: You know, Fred van Vliet, there's another machination in that deal.
Speaker 1: I think they would have to take back another I
Speaker 1: think the Rockets might have to take back one other
Speaker 1: salary from the Kings, but call it Fred for Deeron Fox.
Speaker 1: In terms of just the basic kind of foundation of
Speaker 1: the deal for Sacramento, you get a win now piece
Speaker 1: in Fred van Vliet that seamlessly slots in Deeron Fox's role.
Speaker 1: He's a very good playmaker too, something that will help
Speaker 1: grease the wheels for the Kings offense. You get to
Speaker 1: maintain your relevance in the short term, and you just
Speaker 1: get Houston for as many picks as you can get
Speaker 1: from them, right, So that benefits Sacramento. Now you have
Speaker 1: a team in Houston that can credibly generate offense in
Speaker 1: the half court while having the defense to transition attack
Speaker 1: that this Rockets team has devastated some of the best
Speaker 1: teams in the league with lately. I think they can
Speaker 1: legitimately hoist the trophy if they get dearon Fox. Like
Speaker 1: they match up really well with the best teams in
Speaker 1: the league. They have one crippling weakness that Darren Fox
Speaker 1: perfectly addresses. I think they should do it. That's my
Speaker 1: favorite destination for Dearon Fox. The volume. What's Up guys,
Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
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Speaker 1: if you guys would take a second and leave a
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Speaker 1: do that, I'd really appreciate it.