DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan admits Fox situation makes his Kings future ‘tough'

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On “Kings Pregame Live,” Kyle Draper and Morgan Ragan discuss Sacramento’s willingness to trade De’Aaron Fox ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 6 deadline.

Could De'Aaron Fox's uncertain future with the Kings impact other players on the team?

DeMar DeRozan, who chose Sacramento this past offseason, with Fox playing a big role in his decision, admitted the situation involving the latest trade rumors around Fox is tough and shared how it could alter his decision to remain with the Kings for the final years of his NBA career.

"Yeah, it's tough," DeRozan said Thursday morning on FanDuel's "Run It Back." "Because looking at the landscape before I came here, the guys I talked to were Fox, [Domantas Sabonis] and Malik [Monk]. Those are the core guys who made it easy for me to make my decision to play here. So a key player, key juggernaut in Fox not knowing the future of that, it does make it tougher.

"I don't have much time left. I'm not trying to play another five years. I'm trying to maximize the opportunity we have now to play with a great team. You never know when dominoes fall the wrong way, when it comes to the organization, it makes it tough. So it's something we have to wait out and see and, in the meantime, make the most of it. We'll see how it pans out."

Fox's future with the organization that drafted him eight seasons ago became murky when he opted not to sign a contract extension before the 2024-25 season. He wanted to wait and see how the Kings competed, and emphasized winning at a high level on a consistent basis was and is his top priority.

The noise only grew louder when Fox's agent, Rich Paul, popped into town and met with Kings general manager Monte McNair and assistant GM Wes Wilcox in December to discuss the All-Star point guard's future. It also was reported at the time that if the Kings were to trade Fox, the San Antonio Spurs were positioning themselves to acquire him.

And things only intensified when it was reported this week that Sacramento was open to discussing Fox in potential trades ahead of next week's deadline. From rumors to rumblings to real reports, Fox's departure from the only NBA organization he's known appears more likely than ever.

Fox told The Sacramento Bee's Chris Biderman on Wednesday morning that he expects the unexpected and knows anything can happen in the NBA. He seemingly confirmed the Spurs would be his preferred trade destination if the Kings moved on from him.

As DeRozan said, we'll have to play the waiting game to see how things play out with Fox over the next week. And while all parties will have to do what's best for them, it certainly would be unfortunate to say goodbye to the "Clutch Bros" before we really got to see the duo do what it does best.

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