As if the NBA weekend wasn’t crazy enough, Sunday night had to end with one last gift of a three-team trade.
The San Antonio Spurs landed former All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox without relinquishing Stephon Castle or the 2025 first-round pick from Atlanta that they own.
The full trade is as follows, per ESPN:
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Spurs acquire: De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin
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Kings acquire: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 from Charlotte, 2027 from San Antonio and 2031 from Minnesota), three second-round picks (2025 from Chicago, 2028 from Denver and its 2028 selection back)
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Bulls acquire: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and their own 2025 pick that San Antonio held
Spurs: A+
The Spurs walk away as major winners here. Yes, they give up significant draft equity, including a selection they received from Minnesota last year in the Rob Dillingham trade, which could have had some juice down the line.
But considering they still have Castle and still have a chance at a high lottery pick via Atlanta, they really didn’t relinquish anything of major substance.
Fox steps in as the team’s new point guard in what will likely be a dual role with Chris Paul, as the latter takes more of a back seat to the development of Fox and Victor Wembanyama.
Fox and Wembanyama will prove a tough matchup right from the jump, especially offensively, and this addition could even lead to them making a real push in the 2025 playoffs.
What a haul for the Spurs on this one.
Kings: A
As we move on to Sacramento, it’s important to note context here. The Kings got the second-best player in the trade — LaVine — who has grown to be incredibly underrated in recent years.
LaVine was a frequent name linked to the Kings, until they made a move for another Bull — DeMar DeRozan — last offseason.
The LaVine idea made more sense with Fox on the team. And given that LaVine often struggled next to DeRozan in Chicago, there will be once again some kinks to iron out.
Having said that, the Kings also received a haul of draft compensation, meaning the collective return is pretty good. Acquiring a super-efficient, 24-point scorer, as well as numerous draft selections for the coming years, is a win in its own right, especially as their backs were against the wall in the Fox situation.
It’s impossible to go under a solid A on this one in terms of value received. If the Kings don’t hit on some of those picks, however, that grade probably changes. But for now, the Kings came away looking good.
Bulls: D-
As for the Bulls … well, if you have two winners in a three-team trade, surely there must be a loser.
The Bulls got their own pick back, which the Spurs owned with top-10 protection, and not a whole lot else. Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter are all … fine but thoroughly unspectacular.
In many ways, the Bulls failed to get one solid asset back for the second-best shooting guard in team history. That’s not surprising, given how abysmal they’ve been historically at negotiating with other teams.
It makes all the sense in the world that the Kings and Spurs, both of whom have dealt with Chicago in recent years, wanted to include the Bulls in this arrangement to, well, fleece them.
The only reason this isn’t a full-blown F is due to the fact that the Bulls now control their own fate in the 2025 draft and just got a lot worse. Should Cooper Flagg fall their way, it would in large part be due to this trade.