Ex-Cat De’Aaron Fox poised to take next step as focal point of NBA franchise

Former University of Kentucky standout De’Aaron Fox has altered his appearance since we last saw him, but his commitment to the Kings’ organization and desire to bring winning basketball back to Sacramento remains the same.

Fox, a 22-year-old point guard who will soon be eligible for a massive contract extension, intends to lead the Kings for years to come. Fox made that clear in a series of previously unpublished interviews with The Sacramento Bee before the NBA suspended its season due to the coronavirus pandemic. He reaffirmed those feelings Wednesday in a Zoom call with reporters from Golden 1 Center, where the Kings are preparing to resume their season at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

“It’s all the same,” Fox said. “… I see myself being here. I want to be here.”

The hair is cropped much closer now — stylish spikes and curls replaced by short waves — but Fox said his vision for the future has not changed. He still wants to sign a long-term contract extension with the Kings.

This is a topic we explored repeatedly in recurring discussions before the shutdown. One of those conversations occurred Jan. 24 in the visitor’s locker room at the United Center in Chicago.

Fox was taking his game to new heights after missing nearly six weeks with an ankle injury, but he was still playing through assorted pains and the Kings had just lost six in a row to fall 13 games under .500. Marvin Bagley III showed up to the morning shootaround wearing a walking boot. Kings General Manager Vlade Divac was under fire for passing on Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft and Coach Luke Walton had just informed Buddy Hield he was coming off the bench that night against the Chicago Bulls.

That wasn’t enough drama for one day, so we also learned that a woman who had recently returned to Chicago from Wuhan, China, had just become the first person in Illinois and the second in the United States to test positive for COVID-19.

Despite the doom and gloom around him, Fox seemed unfazed. As he sat there preparing for that night’s game — a much-needed victory that would spark the team’s surge into playoff contention — Fox discussed his future in Sacramento and his faith in the franchise.

He was asked about the prospect of signing a long-term contract extension with the Kings in the offseason and his trust in an organization that hasn’t assembled a playoff team since 2006, the NBA’s longest active postseason drought. He talked about winning, losing, the fan backlash in Sacramento, where the Kings were repeatedly booed at home during their early-season struggles, and his desire to stay in the capital city.

“I want to be here,” Fox said. “Obviously, I want to win, but I want to do it here. It’s been, what — 13, 14 years since the last time the Kings made the playoffs? I want to be a part of the first one.

“Obviously, we all want to win. There are some things we know we need to work on as a team, and I’m here for that. Every team has gone through it, probably not as long as the Kings have, but I want to be a part of that. I want to be able to get to the playoffs with this team, and, hopefully, when I’m a veteran in this league, be able to be a (championship) contender.”

Limited window for max extension

Fox has one year remaining on the four-year, $24.5 million rookie contract he signed after the Kings chose him with the fifth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Under the designated rookie rule in the collective bargaining agreement, the Kings can offer Fox a five-year extension worth up to 25 percent of the salary cap for the 2021-22 season, the year his new deal would start, with 8 percent annual raises.

If the Kings are going to offer Fox a max extension, they must do it during an abbreviated offseason between the end of the 2019-20 season in October and the start of the 2020-21 season, possibly in December. If they don’t get a deal done, Fox will become a restricted free agent following the 2020-21 season.

That might not be desirable for either side unless Fox wants an exit plan, said Jeff Siegel, founder of Early Bird Rights, a site that specializes in salary cap analysis. Other teams would be able to offer Fox up to four years with 5 percent annual raises.

The Kings would have the right to match any offer, but they might not like the terms if, for instance, Fox receives a four-year offer with a player option in the final season, Siegel said. The Kings would undoubtedly match the offer, but Fox could become an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 season, probably while in his prime at age 26. Fox would set himself up for an even bigger payday at that point in his career, but the risk of injury is constant and the Kings are the only team that can give him guaranteed money this offseason.

Deal could be done by December

If Fox is truly committed to remaining in Sacramento, and if the Kings truly believe he can lead them into contention, this deal should be done by the end of December, even if neither side yet knows how much the contract is actually worth.

Revenue losses stemming from the COVID-19 crisis and the NBA’s frayed relationship with China could result in a significant reduction in the salary cap. Max contracts are calculated based on the salary cap, so any reduction in the cap would cause a corresponding decline in max contract figures.

As a result, the Kings might end up saving money on Fox’s new deal, but league executives and agents say there is too much uncertainty to project how much a cap hit might impact the team’s books or Fox’s future earnings.

“It’s just way too premature to predict what’s going to happen,” Priority Sports and Entertainment CEO Mark Bartelstein said. “There’s just so much to play out in the next few months.”

No one knows exactly what the salary cap will be, but we can make calculations based on a hypothetical scenario.

If the 2021-22 salary cap drops from previous projections of $125 million to $115 million, the value of a five-year deal for Fox with 8 percent annual raises would dip from $183.3 million to $168.7 million. That would reduce his average yearly salary from $36.6 million to $33.7 million.

“It’s not quite the Jimmy Butler/Kyrie Irving contracts that started in 2015 and were bargain deals until they expired in 2019 after the cap hiked up in 2016, but it would be a better contract for the Kings than other max deals signed later on,” Siegel said. “Of course, (Fox) also has to play well enough to make it a bargain deal.”

Fox forward

Fox hasn’t established himself as an All-Star yet, but he might be on that path after showing impressive growth over his first three seasons. And he isn’t just improving as a player. He’s emerging as a leader.

“He’s just maturing so much,” Kings center Harry Giles III said. “I’ve been knowing him since we were in high school, so for me it’s bigger than basketball. I’m seeing him turn into a man. I always wanted to play with him, so to see him leading the team I’m on, it’s amazing. He’s always had those qualities and it’s great to see him growing into that role. That’s something that’s going to carry on for the rest of his career.”

Fox averaged 11.6 points and 4.4 assists while enduring some rookie struggles in 2017-18, but he broke out in his second season, averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 assists, good enough to finish third in Most Improved Player voting. He was averaging 20.4 points and 6.8 assists and appeared to be making another leap when the current season was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fox has improved tremendously in terms of scoring efficiency and his ability to get to the free-throw line. He shot 41.2 percent from the field and attempted 2.7 free throws per game as a rookie. This season, he’s shooting 47.5 percent while attempting 6.8 free throws per game. If defenses collapse on him as he dashes and darts into the paint, Fox kicks out to open three-point shooters such as Hield and Nemanja Bjelica.

“The game is made for him now,” Hield said. “If (defenses) are going to stay home on me and Belly, all he has to do is keep his head down. He’s the fastest guy in the league and he has good body control. … Attacking the basket is good for our team and we need him to be aggressive because it starts with him.”

There’s still room for improvement in Fox’s game. He shot 37.1 percent from three-point range in his second season, but he’s shooting 30.7 percent this season, same as his rookie year. He is a 71.8-percent free-throw shooter and his defense — while sensational at times — still needs work.

‘Full faith’

Walton believes in Fox’s work ethic and his ability to lead, noting that he was taking command before the shutdown.

“I think he’s getting more comfortable and confident being vocal out there and embracing that leader role,” Walton said. “He plays the toughest position in our league and he’s 22 years old. We ask a lot of him, so we have a lot on that plate, but I think he’s doing a really nice job of embracing that and working on those type of things.”

Fox is accountable in the locker room as well, answering every question, addressing any issue. As the howling grew louder over Divac’s decision to pass on Doncic, I asked Fox if he had enough faith in the front office to feel good about a long-term marriage.

“I have full faith,” Fox said.

When the Kings were struggling defensively with Fox and Hield in the starting lineup, I asked if the two of them could ever be good enough together to make the Kings a contender.

“We know we have to defend,” Fox said. “We know we have to defend at a high level to win in this league. All the playoff teams, all the better teams are great defensive teams, and it starts on the ball. You can talk about all the help you want, but whoever’s on the ball has to do your job first, eliminate straight-line drives. That’s when your help defense can help you.”

When the Kings were repeatedly booed at home earlier this season, I asked if he thought the city’s storied love affair with the team was being tested, if the fan backlash could diminish his desire to bring winning basketball back to Sacramento.

“My first year, we won 27 games, but every game we played at home was a packed house,” Fox said. “There are times we’ve played in Detroit or Atlanta or somewhere and half the arena is empty, so you see the love Sacramento has for the team. I know the fans are frustrated. They want to win. We want to win, too, and if you’re able to win in this city, it’s going to feel a lot better than winning somewhere else.”