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.