The Los Angeles Lakers have never shied away from the opportunity to bring in a big name to help bolster their championship efforts. Look no further than the current roster, which features free agency signing LeBron James and trade acquisition Anthony Davis.
As the Lakers weigh their options for paths to improvement, an unlikely option has presented itself in 2024-25: Trading for Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox.
This likely comes across as yet another entry into the endless stream of big names whom the Lakers have been baselessly connected to. Fox is, after all, the franchise player in Sacramento, with a combination of production, youth, and accolades that would make the Kings crazy to trade him.
It's also worth noting that the Kings have invested in the current core, complementing Fox and Domantas Sabonis with a six-time All-Star in DeMar DeRozan.
With Sacramento on the wrong side of .500, however, intriguing conversations have arisen. That includes many surrounding Fox's future, as he's in the second-to-last season of his current contract and could walk in free agency in 2026.
More importantly, Fox declined the three-year, $165 million contract extension the Kings offered him in October, thus creating the question: Could the Lakers realistically acquire him at some point in the next seven months?
Could the Lakers swoop in and steal De'Aaron Fox from the Kings?
It's hardly hyperbolic to state that Fox is one of the best point guards in the NBA. He earned All-NBA and All-Star honors in 2022-23, led the Association in steals in 2023-24, and has averaged 25.2 points, 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 2.0 three-point field goals made since 2020-21.
In 2024-25, Fox has put forth a remarkable effort with averages of 27.2 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 2.2 three-point field goals made per game.
Unfortunately, Sacramento is 10-12 and the path to meaningful improvement is currently unclear. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports that the Kings have a "heightened sense of urgecy," but it's unclear who they might be targeting on the trade market.
If Sacramento fails to turn its season around, and is on pace to be unsuccessful on the trade market, perhaps they'd consider trading Fox.
The 26-year-old has another season remaining on his contract, which will likely push any potential trade to the 2025 offseason. The era of player empowerment has positioned stars to request trades when they feel as though their time with an organization has run its course, and Fox could be headed down that path—pure speculation, but a possibility worth evaluating.
Fox helped Sacramento end a 17-year postseason drought in 2022-23, but with one career postseason appearance, it stands to reason that he could want more for himself.
If that scenario plays out, the Lakers would be wise to offer just about anything they can to bring Fox to Los Angeles. He'd be the perfect perimeter complement to Anthony Davis, as well as the type of talent who could help extend LeBron James' career.
With value in both the short-term and the long-term, Fox could help the Lakers not only build for the future, but maximize the present.
A trade would likely require the Lakers to effectively blow up the roster, but if the remaining parts include Davis, Fox, and James, so be it. Fox has already proven that he knows how to play off of an All-NBA big in Sabonis, and he and Davis could create even stronger two-way chemistry.
It may be a long shot at this stage of the game, but having declined his extension with a team that's on pace to miss the playoffs yet again, Fox to the Lakers is less unrealistic than ever before.
