De'Aaron Fox can do better than the Spurs if the Kings trade him

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The Victor Wembanyama effect is already taking hold in San Antonio. We're not even two full years into the 21-year-old's promising young career, and the Spurs are already being mentioned as a preferred destination for at least one All-Star potentially on the move.

In case you missed it, the Sacramento Kings are expected to open trade talks around franchise point guard De'Aaron Fox, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Tuesday, and Fox's preferred landing spot is San Antonio.

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This comes after future Hall of Famer Chris Paul choose to sign with the Spurs in free agency last summer. If it isn't clear by now, Wembanyama is the draw here. In Fox's case, it also helps that the Spurs play in Texas, where he attended high school, but I doubt he wants to go there if they don't have the potential future face of the NBA who might dominate the league for the next decade-plus. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama would give Fox a real shot at competing on a level the Kings were never able to reach.

However, if Fox wants to win today, and do it on a young team with a franchise big man, the Spurs probably aren't his best option. They might not even be the second-best option. Two teams fit that description and both are better than the Spurs today. Those teams are the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets.

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In Orlando, Fox would join a team that's been able to stay afloat in the playoff picture at .500 despite missing its two best players -- Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner -- for a significant portion of the season. Now, both are back and, like Wembanyama, Banchero is a budding star. All this team needs is the type of scoring punch Fox can add. They're 3rd in defensive rating but just 29th on offense. In the less-crowded playoff field of the East, Fox could play meaningful games right away. Orlando's +2000 odds to win the conference are fifth-best at BetMGM.

The same goes for the Rockets, who occupy the No. 2 seed and fifth-best odds to win the West at +1600. They achieved their 32-14 record despite Fred VanVleet having one of his least efficient years. Fox would be a significant upgrade, and he'd get to play next to Alperen Sengun. There's an argument about whether Houston should want to mess with the chemistry of something going so well, but the Kings standing pat as the No. 3 seed two years ago just to be where they are today could be an example of why they should strike now while they're hot.

That brings me back to the Spurs. They're 12th in the West with the 12th-best odds (+15000) to win the conference. Is picking up Fox really enough to get them into the playoffs this year? Probably not. With a better team in Sacramento, he's only 2.5 games better. A jump to the Spurs for Fox would be a play for the future, which he's young enough to do at 27. But after one playoff appearance in eight years, how much patience does he have? If the goal is to win sooner than later, San Antonio isn't his best option.

Caitlin Clark declines NBA invite

As the field for this year's NBA All-Star Weekend events begin to take shape, we finally know about one player who won't be taking part in the festivities: Caitlin Clark.

If you remember last year, Sabrina Ionescu competed in a 3-point contest against Stephen Curry during All-Star weekend. This year, the NBA apparently wanted Caitlin Clark and Klay Thompson to join the contest. That won't be happening, though, as Clark reportedly declined the invitation.

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While this is probably disappointing for fans who wanted to see four of the best shooters in the world go head-to-head, Clark was under no obligation to do it and owes nobody an apology, but as it turns, she does have a solid reason for turning it down. According to Sports Business Journal, Clark wanted her first shooting contest to be in front of her home fans in Indianapolis at the WNBA All-Star events this summer.

It's hard to be mad at that.

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Shootaround

-- Why the Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for a third time

-- Pelicans select Ace Bailey in this latest 2025 mock draft

-- Hawks star Jalen Johnson is reportedly out for the season

-- The Warriors are retiring Andre Iguodala's jersey

This article originally appeared on For The Win: De'Aaron Fox can do better than the Spurs if the Kings trade him