According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Sacramento Kings were the ones who brought up opening trade talks surrounding De’Aaron Fox. Fox did not have any intentions of requesting a trade.

With the option of being traded on the table now, Fox would have preferred to handle this matter in the offseason. The main reason is that more teams would have been interested in the talented guard.

Right now, teams don’t have as many assets to trade for him as they would in the offseason.

Rumors were circulating that Fox opted not to extend with Sacramento because he was unhappy or wanted to see if they could succeed. Neither was the prevailing case, as he declined the contract to bet on himself to make an All-NBA team to become supermax eligible.

The supermax contract would have guaranteed a lasting relationship with the Kings, as that was the superstar’s intention. However, he is no longer interested in remaining with the team after they decided to move on from him.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Sacramento Kings have made the mind-blowing move to put De’Andre Fox up on the trade block to listen to offers before the trade deadline.

While several teams are knocking on their door, Fox already has a team in mind. Reportedly, he’s had a team in mind for a while ahead of his free agency in 2026.

Before the start of the season, the 27-year-old declined a three-year, $165 million extension he wanted to “win.”

Fox is already ruling out teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and wanting teams like the San Antonio Spurs. Fans have fantasized about him and Victor Wembanyama for the longest time.

The superstar averages 25.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in 37.2 minutes. He’s played 43 games this season.

According to multiple reports, the Sacramento Kings had a very difficult decision to make, and they didn’t want to make that call at all. There was controversy inside-and-out of their organization.

“Nobody wanted to fire Mike,” one Kings source said. “He’s a good coach. People here really care about him. Until the very last moment we were trying to make it work.”

Despite not wanting to fire him, General Manager Monte McNair, associate GM Wes Wilcox, Team President Matina Kolokotronis, and Governor Vivek Ranadivé were actively communicating throughout the team’s 0-5 home struggles, which led to the team firing him.

The night before the firing, everyone agreed to go to bed and decide in the morning. Sacramento allowed him to run practice and answer the media’s questions, but beyond that, they made their choice to fire him.