Chicago has been trying for more than a year to find a new home for Zach LaVine. De’Aaron Fox just popped up on the trade market last week.
Both are on the move in the second big NBA blockbuster trade in as many days — a three-team trade that pairs Fox with Victor Wembanyama and sends LaVine to Sacramento. The trade works for pretty much everyone involved. We had to look hard for losers, and the one we got isn’t really losing that much.
Let’s break down this trade, who won and who lost. That starts with the details of the trade itself:
Spurs receive: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin
Kings receive: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 Charlotte [which is top-14 protected, meaning it will become second-round picks in 2026 and 2027], 2027 San Antonio, 2031 Minnesota), and three second-round picks.
Bulls receive: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and they get their own 2025 first-round pick back from San Antonio.
WINNER: De’Aaron Fox
It was one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA that De’Aaron Fox had his eye on getting to San Antonio and becoming the point guard who chases rings next to Victor Wembanyama. As tends to happen in the NBA, what the star player wants, the star player gets.
In addition, getting this trade done before the deadline gets the man paid. Fox (and his agent, Rich Paul) wanted this trade to happen before the Feb. 6 deadline so that he could sign a max extension to stay in San Antonio this summer. If he signs this summer his max extension is five-years, $296 million, if he signed as a free agent with another team the max was four years and $219 million. (The Spurs technically have some cap space to renegotiate his salary up and extend him off that number, but doing so cuts into the team’s flexibility to add other players.)
Fox wins because he gets what he wanted: To get paid on a team that should contend within a couple of seasons.
WINNER: San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs landed their All-Star level point guard of the future and did it without sacrificing Stephen Castle, Devin Vassell or Keldon Johnson, and they retain enough draft picks to make more bold moves in the future. That’s a win.
The argument against the Spurs as winners is that they could have waited and maybe found a better second star this offseason or in a year — but this team did not give up much in this deal, and it’s not in a position to wait. Much like an NFL team with a great young quarterback (Washington with Jayden Daniels, for example), it’s imperative with a talent like Wembanyama to stack the roster and try to win the next few years because when Wembanyama gets to year five salary will explode up to 30% of the salary cap and it will be much harder to bring in quality players around him.
The Fox/Wembanyama pick-and-roll should be devastating. Fox’s explosive first step coming off a Wembanyama pick sets up his underrated passing game, whether Wemby pops out to the arc or rolls hard to the rim. Also don’t forget, Fox is a former Clutch Player of the Year who has thrived in bib moments, it never hurts to have more clutch guys on the team.
The fit with Fox and Chris Paul could be a little undersized and clunky this season, but the Fox pickup was about the long haul, not simply this season.
The Spurs are not done — they need far more shooting around Fox and Wemby — but this is a considerable upgrade.
WINNER: Victor Wembanyama
You can argue that Wembanyama is a winner because he gets his point guard of the future now.
However, that’s not the real reason he is a winner. What matters far more is this trade shows the Spurs have stopped trying to slow-play building a winning team around him and are jumping in with both feet. That may not matter this season (the 12th-seeded Spurs sit two games out of the final play-in spot in the West), but it matters a lot heading into this summer and next season. Look for San Antonio to be aggressive going forward (and as noted above, they still have assets to deal).
LOSER: Chris Paul
CP3 is not really a massive loser here, but he likely sees his minutes decrease with Fox in the rotation. Paul was most likely a one-year player in San Antonio (unless he accepts a bench role and they decide to keep him on for his veteran presence).
It will be interesting to see if Mitch Johnson tries to play Paul and Fox together, it would be a very undersized backcourt but would also present some challenges to opposing defenses.
WINNER: Sacramento Kings
Sacramento would have been happy to re-sign Fox and continue on its current path, but with this trade, it moved on from Fox without taking a step back. LaVine nicely fills Fox’s playmaker role, and they add six draft picks that can potentially be used in future trades (or just used to draft good young players).
LaVine — in the middle of one of the best seasons of his career — and Fox have very similar scoring and impact numbers. LaVine is a more efficient scorer, and Fox is a better defender, but with the swap, the Kings are in position to keep pushing for a postseason spot while adding draft picks that can help them make future moves.
And that is the plan, league sources tell NBC Sports the Kings will continue to be aggressive looking to add talent before the deadline.
MID: Chicago Bulls
Part of the reason the Bulls took more than a year to trade Zach LaVine is that teams wanted Chicago to attach a first-round draft pick to the deal (for the trouble of taking on the two years, $95 million LaVine has left on his contract after this one).
The positive for Chicago is they didn’t have to give up that pick in this trade. LaVine’s strong play this season (24 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists a game, career-high 63.7 true shooting percentage) and the Kings trying to replace Fox’s scoring worked out for Chicago. The Bulls leaned even harder into their rebuild (read: tanking) and did so while getting control of their 2025 first-round pick back.
One can argue that the Bulls didn’t get much of a return, considering LaVine is a prolific offensive player. That said, it likely was the best they could do. It’s a solid outcome for Chicago as they jump in with both feet on the rebuild. Finally. The judgment here is kind of “mid” for the Bulls on this deal alone, but if this is combined with trades in the coming days of Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball, it can be a big win at the trade deadline for Chicago.
