NBA Rumors: Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox Linked To Indiana Pacers Move

With the NBA trade deadline barely a month ahead, the Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox is one of the major names pegged for a move to another team--this time with the Indiana Pacers.

Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale put out a piece about potential landing spots for certain players, linking the Pacers as a good spot for Fox which may actually make sense for the 24-year-old combo guard.

Fox’s performance this season has been shaky at best after the continued development of sophomore playmaker Tyrese Haliburton and the Kings’ interest in rookie Davion Mitchell.

There is undisputed doubt that the Kings are still Fox’s team, but the eye test suggests that the Kings are playing better with Haliburton manning the point guard spot full time over Fox.

Fox is pretty consistent with his scoring production this season (21.1 points), but his shooting splits from three leave something to be desired, norming just 25% which is a career-low for him.

For context, Fox has been particularly decent at stroking the three with a career average of 31.5 percent.

His assists numbers are down as well this season, 5.1 compared to last season’s 7.2, which may be due to Haliburton’s proficiency with finding his teammates for easy buckets (7.1 assists this season).

Being traded to the Pacers could work wonders for Fox to maintain his position as a number one scoring option on a team that has rarely stayed together due to injuries and has failed to mount a consistent attack.

Fox has four years left on his current deal that amounts to around $134.9 million, which means the Pacers will have to give up some major pieces to acquire him.

After rumors of the Pacers being amiable to blowing up their big three of Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon for a soft rebuild, the Kings may want to try their luck and get one of them in exchange for Fox.

Using ESPN’s Trade Machine, a package for Fox could feature Sabonis and T.J. McConnell as the centerpieces or Turner and McConnell as the Kings would want some sense of veteran leadership in their backcourt, with third-string center Damian Jones being included to shore up the Pacers’ loss of a big man.

Working alongside a proven, but oft-injured, playmaker in Brogdon should help create opportunities for Fox to be a high-scoring machine under Rick Carlisle’s system.

Defensively, the Pacers will be taken down a notch without one of Turner or Sabonis in the frontcourt, but Fox should be able to provide some help in the backcourt alongside Brogdon.

However, the Kings may not be inclined to move Fox as building around him and Haliburton is their ideal pairing according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes.

But with the emergence of Haliburton as a number one facilitator, Fox is the likeliest candidate to be moved out of Sacramento in order to get some pieces for a potential playoff push next season.